Light in the Darkness
by Kitty McGonagall
Summary: Severus Snape had all but accepted having to live in darkness for what happened in the past, and the death of the one he loved. But it all changes when he is offered something of a second chance. Full summary inside.
1. Prologue

**Summary: **Severus Snape was once a Death Eater until he turned spy, and it led to him being indebted to Albus Dumbledore with a single promise he had uttered. That he would do anything for the older wizard, not even knowing what it meant besides it being him making the promise as a desperate man to try and save the woman he loved more than anything. But now he has an infant daughter who carries the name of the woman that Severus would always love.

**Light in the Darkness**

**Prologue**

Severus Snape, a youth that had once had nothing but a future of darkness, had once held to a single light to allow some hope. But now it had been a week since the woman he had loved with everything that he was had been killed by the dark lord. Both she and her husband had been killed in the attack, and yet their son, Harry Potter, had survived. Yes, the one that he loved was none other than Lily Potter who in their youth had been known as Lily Evans. Her flame red hair always had held a halo around it when the sun kissed at her as the light in her emerald green eyes always seemed to reflect any emotion she had been feeling. They danced with her laughter, and then a dangerous flame took over when she was angered.

Though now he sat before the fire in the sitting room of his house as he stared into the flames, for the last week he had been numb, even more so since today was the day his beloved would be put to rest and he would never again even see her face. He had tried to go to the service to say his farewell but he was not allowed to due to how he was one seen as a death eater and he could not contradict it due to how some of Voldemort's faithful were still at large and would tear him to shreds should he openly admit that he had been the one to tip off the Potters that they had been on the dark lords list for him to kill personally. 'All because of the damned prophecy!' Severus thought bitterly as he slowly turned his head to the side.

When he looked toward the window that had the curtains drawn except to allow a small sliver of glass to be seen, he saw in that slit his reflection. A pale drawn face with a hooked nose. His black hair hung in a slight mess about his face due to how today he had ran his hands through his slightly grown out black hair several times as he silently raged over the death of Lily. 'The dark lord was supposed to spare her! Why did she have to die? Why Lily…' he thought as he once again brought his hands up as he rested his face in the palms of his hands as he knew his onyx colored eyes were blood shot from how he had cried in secret since he had found out Lily had died along with her husband.

Though he soon heard a small chime, which meant someone was trying to contact him through the Floo Network. He spoke in a voice that was beyond harsh due to how he had been silently and even at times loudly crying and begging any entities that may exist to explain to him why she had to die. Though the sound of the chime did not die away even when he bellowed that he did not wish to be disturbed. Though soon a head appeared in the flames, and it was the very last person that Severus wanted to see or even deal with at the moment. The headmaster of Hogwarts, the man he had sworn loyalty to only to be betrayed, Albus Dumbledore.

"Severus, I need you to open your Floo or meet me at the cemetery where Lily and James were buried in Godric's Hollow in an hour." The head of Albus Dumbledore said as Severus glared at the headmaster but the look on Dumbledore's face said it all, no room for arguing.

"Very well…" Severus grumbled as the head of Albus vanished only for Severus to draw himself up from the chair where he had been sitting and head up to his room to change his clothes and even try to clean himself up. It had been bad enough for Albus to see him in this state while looking through the Floo Network, but he would not allow himself to be seen in such as state due to how he still figured it best to allow himself to maintain the mask he had been fighting to when out in public. Within half an hour he had changed into a fresh change of black robes, washed his face and tamed his hair so it lay as it always did where it framed his face. Once he was done he disapparated to Godric's Hollow, only to find himself standing outside of the house that had once been the Potter's only a week before. Now it was a mess of ruble and in ruins from the magical discharge from the rebounding killing curse that had been meant for the Potter's son.

Severus only spent a brief moment standing there looking at the ruins before he turned on his heel and walked off toward the cemetery, his cloak billowing behind him as he walked into the hollowed place quickly spotting the two fresh graves. He slowly made his way over to them and stood at the foot of the graves as he stared at the female's name, feeling as though a hand reached inside of his chest and was clenching at his heart. She was really gone and there was no bringing her back. All due to how there was no spell that could revive the dead, and he should know. All due to how he had searched for the past week for a way to reverse the killing curse but there was none.

"Lily…" Severus whispered in a shaking voice as he fought back any tears that may betray his true feelings that he never got to express to her due to his own stupidity in his youth. "How could I call you that horrible word that pushed you away from me into Potter's arms?" his voice was even lower than a whisper as he spoke. "You may have been muggle born, but you were never a mudblood in my eyes. All because of how from the first time we met, your smile was my saving grace, the thing that granted me happiness in the darkest times of my life." Severus paused as he shook his head. "Now that you are gone, I feel that I deserve this pain, and being in darkness for how it was my stupidity that led to your death…" he clenched his fists down at his side only to hear a pop not too far from him meaning another had just arrived.

"Paying your final respects, Severus?" an all too familiar voice asked as Severus turned slightly to look toward none other than Albus Dumbledore. The man looked so refined that it was almost sickening to Severus. That and how he was wearing his light blue robes, something that Severus thought was near insulting, but with Albus he was always someone to be different. His long white hair and beard seemed almost blinding in the pale light of the late afternoon. "Thank you for coming and not causing too much of a fuss about doing so." Albus said as he walked over to stand beside Severus at the foot of the Potter's graves, it was then that Severus noticed that Albus was carrying a bundle of some kind.

"What are you carrying?" Severus asked ignoring how Albus had spoken about how he had not put up much of a fuss at meeting him here.

"Oh, this." Albus said in a casual tone as he shifted the bundle in his arms and moved the thin blanket resting over it to reveal the face of an infant that could not be any older than maybe a year at most. "I brought this girl because you are to raise her as your own." Albus said as though it was not that much of a request.

"You have got to be kidding me!" Severus ground out in frustration. "I am not right to raise a child! Especially when I do not even know who the child belongs to!" he said since he did not think he was right to raise another's child but that seemed to be what Albus was hinting at.

"You once said you would do anything for me, and that includes this." Albus said in a matter of fact tone as he held out the child to Severus. "I will not take no for an answer, because you need this girl as much as she needs you." He said as Severus seemed to not have that much fight in him due to how he had been grieving the death of Lily for the last week, so the younger man hesitantly took the child in his arms as she only shifted and continued to sleep. "Her name is to be Lillian Snape." Albus said. "I have already wrote up documentation so that she is yours. Now get on home and start packing, you are to move to a house more suited for a child and I will be sending some house elves to help with the task and with the basics of caring for the child." Albus said as he disapparated leaving a confused Severus behind.

Once he snapped out of his confused state, Severus looked down at the bundle to see that she was still sleeping so he turned on his heel and disapparated back to his house with the intent to start packing. Though even when he got back to his house he went to his room and placed the child down on his bed where she continued to sleep as he started to shrink things around his room to put into a single bag that he had. Within the hour he had packed everything only for a single house elf to appear that bowed low to him so that her pointed nose brushed the floor before she straightened showing she was wearing the typical uniform of a Hogwarts house elf with the school crest. When she was looking up at Severus it was revealed that she had large hazel eyes.

"Master Dumbledore has sent me to help Master Severus with raising his daughter." The house elf spoke confirming that it was a female.

Severus looked down at her with a neutral expression as he walked to the bed and picked up the child as he spoke to the elf. "What is your name?"

"I is Twinkle, Master Severus." The house elf, Twinkle, said as she smiled widely at her new master. Though with the introduction out of the way Twinkle came over and held out her hand to Severus who took it only for Twinkle to vanish with her new master and his child to their new home.

**A/N:** Yes I am back to also writing Harry Potter fanfiction. I just want to state real quick: _Harry Potter does not belong to me! Only things that do are Lillian Snape, Twinkle and any others not recognized from the series by J.K. Rowling._ Also as an extra note, I want to dedicate this chapter to Toraach for encouraging me to write this and put it up on here.


	2. Park

**Chapter One: Park**

Summer vacation had just started for the students and staff of Hogwarts, and so Severus had just a few days before taken his daughter, Lily, home for the holiday along with a small house elf named Twinkle who had been helping Severus in raising his daughter. Though it was now 1985 and the child would five shortly before the next term started. Though as Severus walked around the small two story cottage that they had lived in for the last three years together when not at the school, he noticed how this place had a definite feel of a home, something that surely Dumbledore had wanted for the two of them when he had sent Twinkle to take them here. Though as Severus looked at some pictures that lined the hall and even that were on the mantle of the fire place he saw the milestones of his daughter. More so with birthday pictures, and even some that Dumbledore had snapped without Severus knowing during one of his many visits. One that Severus truly treasured, being one that had been taken at the end of the last summer holiday where his small daughter was being held close to him as they were on the couch sound asleep.

'She looks so much like me…' he thought as he knew the truth, that Lily was not actually his but at the same time, in his heart, she was his. His precious one. It was the work of a spell that had it so she looked like him from what he had been told shortly after she had been left with him. All due to how it had to be concealed who her true family was. 'Even if they do come back for her, I will not let them take my Lily.' He thought to himself as his eyes soon fell on a picture of his daughter when she had been learning better how to walk without falling so much where he had known at the time that she could walk but she still had trouble.

So he had knelt across the room and taken a picture of her as she walked toward him, a giant grin on her face as she took it one step at a time as her mouth moved silently mouthing something he remembered all too well. "Da! Da!" she had called to him as she made her way to him. Her light blue eyes that seemed to have a bright glint to them at times with parts of her black hair that was in pigtails at the time.

Though he was taken from that thought when he heard a sudden cry from the upstairs as he turned and rushed up the stairs to the room where he had put his daughter to bed not to long before as she was curled in a ball screaming and crying in her sleep. Something that had started not to long before school had let out.

"Lily!" Severus said in worry as he rushed over and was slightly on the bed so his right knee was on the mattress as he reached out to her and gently shook her but she continued to cry for a few more minutes before she slowly opened her blue eyes to see that it was her father.

"Dad!" Lily cried as she shifted and flung her small body against her fathers and clung to him for all she was worth as she felt her father bring his arms around her holding her close to him. "It felt so real…" Lily said as her small body shook from her crying.

Severus continued to hold Lily as she cried as he started to whisper to her that it was alright, that she was safe. Though part of him was all but screaming that something was not right since it seemed more and more frequent that she was waking screaming or crying out. 'Surely this is not something that is normal for a child her age…' he thought to himself as he thought of something. "Twinkle!" He called as there was a small pop sound as he did not even have to look to know the small house elf was there. "Go to Hogwarts and request that Professor Dumbledore come here right away, that there may be something wrong with Lily." He said as Twinkle nodded before there was another small pop sound meaning the house elf had left. Though as he felt Lily calm while still in his arms he decided to ask. "What did you see that scared you so much?" he asked

Lily was perfectly still for a brief moment before she buried her face more against her father's chest as she was still crying ever so slightly. "I-I was alone in the dark…" she whispered in a quiet voice. "I felt pain in my arm…" she said as it showed she was more versed than some others her age due to her being raised at a school and around professors most of the year and how Severus focused on instructing her early on because she had shown faint hints of magic shortly before they had left for the summer vacation.

Severus leaned back and went to examine his daughters arm only to find that it was perfectly fine. "Lily," he said as the small girl looked up at her father with her bright blue eyes through the curtain of shoulder length black hair. "There is nothing wrong with your arm." He said but Lily was shaking her head frantically.

"I am not making it up dad!" she cried out only for there to be the sound of someone clearing their throat from the doorway as both looked to see that it was none other than Albus Dumbledore. He currently wore bright almost blinding red robes and a matching hat as he stepped into Lily's room. "Bee!" Lily said since she had a hard time with Dumbledore's name but refused to call him by his first so she called him Bee since he had told her recently that his last name had the meaning of bumblebee.

"Twinkle said that something had happened to her." Dumbledore said with a bit of a skeptical look on his face since it seemed to be a near common occurrence at times that the young Lily had odd dreams where she would wake crying or screaming for her dad. "Was it another nightmare, Lily?" Dumbledore asked as he walked over closer as Lily shook her head at the headmaster as she had a near frantic look on her face.

"I saw something that was not a dream!" she said frantically as she looked between her dad and the headmaster only to see that both of them were skeptical so she became desperate for them to listen to her. "I saw a boy with a scar on his forehead!" she said as suddenly both adults had confused looks on their faces. "He was alone and he was hurt." She said as Dumbledore walked over closer to her as he knelt down slightly so he was closer to her level looking into the eyes of the terrified four year old.

"How old was the one that you saw?" Dumbledore asked as he had a feeling that he knew exactly who the child had seen, but he prayed it was not the case. More so since the one he feared she had seen was one he had left with family as a form of protection to try and insure the child's safety.

During this Severus had sat down on the bed only for Lily to move to his lap only for her dad to instinctively wrap his arms around her as though trying to protect her from anything and everything in the world. Something that brought a faint twinkle to Dumbledore's eyes before it dimmed as he focused on the small child.

"He had hair the same color as mine. But it was all over the place. And on his forehead was a light bolt." Lily said as she felt her father tighten his arms around her as Dumbledore had a grave look on his face as she was about to ask what was wrong but Dumbledore was on his feet as he turned on his heel.

"Severus, tomorrow take Lily to the park, from there if you see the family there but not the boy, find him." Dumbledore ordered as Lily was looking at the older wizard with a confused questioning look on her face only to feel her father tense as she inclined her head to look toward him as she was about to ask her what was going on but her dad soon shifted to put her back to bed.

"Go back to sleep, Lil." Severus said as he looked down at his daughter who was still giving him a look that conveyed something he was sure meant that she would not want to sleep alone due to how she had woken from what she believed was a nightmare. "I am going to go speak to Professor Dumbledore before he leaves then I will be back to kiss you good night." He said as he stood from the bed holding his small daughter against his chest as he shifted her blankets before setting her down on the bed then tucking her in, being sure to pick up a teddy bear that was on the floor. One that looked like a muggle teddy bear but it was one that when she hugged it the teddy bear would play a soft melody to help her sleep more peacefully.

"But not…" Lily yawned as her father drew the blanket up and even tucked in her teddy bear beside her. "No alone." She said in a pleading tone but her father gave her a faint smile as he used his right hand to brush some of her black hair back out of her face.

"I will be just downstairs then I will be across the hall and I will be sure to be by you when you wake." He said as Lily nodded only to shift under her blanket so she was curled into a ball on her side hugging her teddy bear as a faint lullaby started to fill the room as Severus saw that she had drifted off to sleep.

He lingered there for a moment longer before he walked from the room, quietly closing the door behind himself as the light in the room extinguished itself as he had whispered a small spell to allow the room to be dark besides the faint light of the stars outside filling the room. Walking down the stairs he found the headmaster near the fireplace waiting for him as he stopped beside the couch facing the older wizard. "You really want Lily and me to go to the park just to see if that boy is alright?" Severus asked with a hint of annoyance since the one his daughter had described was none other than the son of the woman he continued to love, and the man who had made his school days a living hell.

"Yes, though I am sure it was nothing." Dumbledore said as he glanced to the side as his expression betrayed how he was not fully certain that it was nothing due to how it was odd that Lily would have a dream about Harry because she had never met him. Except possibly when they were babies but there was no way that she would have memory of that so that was what was concerning to the older wizard. Could something have happened? If so they needed to act quickly to insure that it did not get worse since he was already aware that Lily Potter's sister despised magic, but that had been the only option open at the time for the boy's safety.

Severus kept his dark eyes on the headmaster a moment longer waiting to see if the older wizard was going to continue speaking or not, but when he did not, the younger wizard opened his mouth ever so slightly as a sigh passed his lips as he heard a faint sound from the upstairs. "Very well, we will go after breakfast in the morning." He said turning slightly from the older wizard. "Though if it is nothing leave the boy alone?"

Dumbledore nodded at the younger wizard who was only half facing him now. "Yes, if Harry is fine then leave him there, however if anything seems amiss, do not hesitate to collect him, bring him here and contact me with your findings." The older wizard said as Severus nodded.

"Very well, though I am heading to bed, assuming that my bed is not already occupied." He said with a faint glint in his eyes since he was almost certain the noise he had heard a moment before was Lily sneaking into his room not wanting to be alone.

"Good night, Severus." Dumbledore said as he used his wand to light a temporary fire in the hearth as he threw in a pinch of floo powder and stepped in only to say his destination and be gone as the fire died in the hearth.

When darkness took the living room again, Severus shook his head only to turn and head for the stairs and go up them and head toward his room to find the door was slightly open which confirmed what he had suspected. He pushed the door open a bit more as he stepped into the room as he walked over to the nightstand beside his bed as he turned on the light that was on top of it and looked toward the bed to find the sleeping face of Lily there as she was curled up slightly concealed by the blanket that she seemed to have nested in slightly before falling asleep. Though seeing his angel there, Severus could not help but smile as he shifted the blanket and got into bed beside Lily only to feel her inch closer and curl up against his side and even rest her small head against his chest on the left side as he shifted to kiss the top of her head as he had his arm around behind her. "Sweet dreams, my precious Lil." He whispered as he felt himself drifting off to sleep only to faintly hear a small voice speak.

"Good night, daddy."

/

The pale light of the dawn fell through the window onto Severus and Lily as they were both sound asleep for a few moments longer, but Lily was unable to stay awake as she bunched up slightly against her dad's side before opening her bright blue eyes as she blinked several times while she remained huddled up close to her dad. Though she soon felt her stomach start to growl so she shifted under the blanket and got out from under it to head toward the other side and climb down as she soon was on the floor as her long tan colored night gown shifted as she walked toward the door to her dad's room only to quietly sneak out and shut the door behind herself. All due to how she was sure her dad was still tired from the night before, however she could not really remember what all had happened, due to it being a blur to her.

Though she did not linger on that as she walked to the stairs and headed down and toward the kitchen only to find Twinkle in the kitchen already working on a breakfast. But at hearing the small child in the kitchen Twinkle turned and smiled widely at Lily as the little girl came over by the stove trying to see what Twinkle was fixing. Something that led to the house elf smiling even more. "I is fixing eggs, bacon and toast, Mistress." Twinkle said as Lily smiled up at her.

"Thank you, Twinkle." Lily said in a happy tone as she then turned and headed over to the fridge only to hear a soft sound of Twinkle getting into the cabinet to get out a glass and then the house elf coming over to Lily as the two were close in height, but Twinkle was just a little shorter than Lily.

"Why not sit down and I will fix your orange juice." Twinkle offered as Lily smiled again and nodded before heading over to the table as she heard a sound from the upstairs indicating that her dad was up. As Lily was climbing up onto the chair her dad came down with his slightly grown out black hair a bit of a mess around his face as he looked like he was still tired.

"Twinkle…coffee…" he said as the house elf finished placing a glass of orange juice in front of Lily.

"At once, Master Snape." Twinkle said as she rushed to get a cup of coffee that she returned with a second later for Severus as Twinkle placed it on the table as Severus sat down only to pick up the mug of coffee and sip at it only to look across the table at the smiling face of his daughter who seemed to be oddly cheerful considering the night before she had been beyond worked up about a dream she had during the early hours of the morning.

"Good morning, daddy." Lily said in a happy tone as she smiled brightly at her dad who seemed to slowly be waking up. "Are we still going to the park today?" she asked as Severus raised an eye brow at her since it seemed odd to him that she would remember something like that and yet it appeared she did not remember anything else from the night before. "If I promise no disappear?" she asked since in truth Lily had the habit of starting random games of hide and seek with her dad which had led to her getting into trouble during the school terms since the castle was so big that it had a near infinite number of places for a mischievous child to hide.

Though pushing that from his mind as he took another sip of coffee Severus savored the taste of the plain black coffee for a brief moment before he spoke. "Yes, though it will be a little bit since we have to eat breakfast and then we both need to get dressed." He said as he knew Twinkle would help Lily get dressed while he got himself dressed. "And when we do go," at this point Twinkle put the two plates of food on the table for her master and young mistress. "I want you to be too far from me because if things happen we will have to leave quickly." He said as Lily gave him a questioning look then nodded at him with a smile on her face.

"Okay, daddy." She said as in truth she at times seemed to go back and forth between calling Severus by dad or daddy. Dad was usually when she was scared or worked up, daddy was when she was calm or happy. Though she soon focused on eating her breakfast that was a single helping of scrambled eggs, a little bacon and some toast, where her fathers was the same but bigger portioned due to how he was a grown man.

It did not take too long before Lily was do and sliding down from her chair and rushing from the kitchen as Twinkle bowed to Severus to dismiss herself before rushing after the small child. Something that brought a faint smile to Severus' face as he thought of how much his life had changed since Albus had given her to him to raise as his own. 'She is my everything, my whole world.' He thought to himself as he had once wondered if his attachment to her had been due to her having the name of the woman he still loved, but the first time that Lily had reached out to him and hugged him as he held her close, his heart had become hers.

Severus slowly stood from the table moving the plates and glasses to the sink so that it would be easier on Twinkle as he turned and headed out of the kitchen to the living room and then up the stairs. He passed his daughters room as he heard her happy voice through the closed door as a faint smile formed on his lips even more so when he heard her sweet innocent laugh, something he felt was the purest sound in the world, though he knew that in truth his opinion of that was biased since he loved his daughter. 'Even if blood does not bond us, the love I feel for her and the love she feels for me makes our family that much more real.' Severus thought to himself as he walked into his room and proceeded to change into a muggle grey sweater and snug fitting black jeans only to fix his hair so it lay in its normal way, smooth around his face.

Once he was sure he was ready he walked back toward the door and saw across the hall that Lily's door was open meaning that she had gone back downstairs to wait for him along with Twinkle. So he turned and headed down the hall to the stairs and down only for him to see her sitting on the couch wearing a light green knee length summer dress as she looked toward him with her blue eyes and smiled at him before she slid off of the couch and ran over to him only to throw herself against him in a hug as Severus moved his right arm to go around her slightly so that his hand rested on her back. In that moment Severus found himself wondering how he ever lived his life without his Lily there to brighten his world. 'Even a simple smile seems to brighten the world around her…' he thought as he felt her lean back as he lowered his hand as Lily reached up taking his hand before the two of them left the small house only for Severus to pick up Lily as she bunched up against him as he disapparated with her only to appear about two blocks from the park.

There was not that many people there, but as soon as Lily caught sight of the park play area she squirmed wanting down, something that Severus obliged in by kneeling down and letting Lily go off and play. Though it was not to long before Severus spotted the ones that he was sure Dumbledore was wanting him to see but not interact with. A woman he recognized as the sister of Lily Evans from the times he had interacted with her when they had been kids. She looked the same, only now she was an adult and seemed to be stuck up in Severus' opinion. Though with the woman was a boy…or what he thought was a boy due to it looking like something that held near no shape besides being round. Though as the woman, Petunia, walked by with the boy it was then that Severus saw for sure that the thing was a kid and more so due to how it was throwing a fit.

Though as Petunia put the boy down and let him go start playing with the other kids, Severus thought for a moment that surely the other boy, Harry, was still in the car because when he glanced he saw that a big man with a mustache, surely Petunia's husband, was just getting out of the car. However he merely locked the car and walked over to join his wife on a bench not too far from where Severus was sitting. 'That is a little odd…' Severus thought due to how surely Harry's family would have brought him along with them to the park since it was such a nice day out. However Severus' attention was soon take from that when he heard a sound that shocked him, a slight yell.

Lily had been playing on the swings along with a few other kids but when a big boy with blonde hair came over as she slowed down so she was just sitting on the swing facing the boy as he was giving her an annoyed look. "Hi." Lily said with a smile only for the boy to walk, over to her as she stood her ground since she thought he just wanted to talk.

However a few seconds later when the boy was right in front of her he glanced to see that neither of his parents were watching before he pushed Lily backward off of the swing onto the dirt as she yelled slightly out of shock as she fell to the ground as the boy held onto the side of the swing. "This is my swing, get lost!" he said as Lily sat up giving the boy a hurt look since she did not understand why he was being so mean to her. Though Lily glared at the boy as he sat and started to swing so that she had to back away from him but her frustration grew and grew until the swing suddenly stopped while at full height as the boy was left there only for him to start crying for his parents. However before his parents or even Severus could get over to the children, the swing gave a violent jolt sending the boy falling to the ground as the swing came back down and was still in front of Lily.

"Diddy!" a woman, Petunia, called out as she rushed over while her husband was close behind her as they helped their son up as he was unharmed besides being severely shaken. Though while Petunia was fawning over her son, her husband glanced around only for his eyes to fall on Lily who was still standing slightly dumbstruck beside the swing.

"What did you do to my son!" the man asked as Lily looked toward him, her blue eyes wide in horror at seeing the rage in the man's face but as she backed up she found herself against something solid, not caring who or what it was, she rushed to hide behind it. While she was hiding he heard the one she was behind talking to the man that had scared her. "Are you her guardian?" the other man asked in low tone.

Severus remained where he was, being a shield between his daughter and the muggle before him. "I am, though I suggest you tend to your own child and never scare mine again or you will know the meaning of fear, muggle." Severus said in a low tone only for Petunia's eyes to shot toward him as though he had uttered something horrible. Though without a word, Severus turned and picked up Lily figuring now was a good time to go and check into the one matter for Dumbledore and then he planned to take Lily home and make sure she was alright since that had been the first real display of her magic and he was sure it had startled her, even more so when he had her up in his arms she buried her face against his shoulder and the base of his neck.

As he was walking away, Severus whispered to Lily. "I just have one thing to take care of and then we will go back home." He said as Lily continued to hide her face as he felt bad for her since magic at times showed up when a child was under stress or sometimes in the worst of ways. Granted he never had any doubt that she would have magic, but at the same time he had hoped her magic would show itself for the first time when she was not around muggles. But there was nothing that could be done now since he had the favor for Dumbledore to take care of. Severus disapperated once he was out of sight of any muggles to just a short distance from Privet Drive. Once there he felt Lily shift as she leaned back only to look around as Severus carried her down the street toward the house.

"Where are we?" Lily asked looking around only for her father to turn and step over a hedge and into a yard as she saw a number four on the house as her father neared the door only to move one arm to get out his wand only to point it at the door and utter something under his breath as the faint sound of the lock being undone met Lily's ears only for her dad to open the door. Once the door opened Lily's blue eyes widened as she squirmed but her dad would not put her down as he closed the door behind them.

"Lily, stop squirming." Severus said since he did not understand what had gotten into her only for Lily to look at him with a worried look on her face. "What is wrong?" he asked only for Lily to shift and point toward a hall that led to what looked like a kitchen. Severus had his doubts but he walked down the hall only for Lily to squirm as they walked past a cupboard positioned under the stairs. "Lily what did I say abo-" Severus started to say but then he caught the look on Lily's face only to get the feeling that he was squirming for a reason. However time was of the essence so he could not indulge her at the moment and let her down because he did not know when the muggles would be back.

"Daddy! The cupboard!" Lily said in a determined tone only for her dad to give her a confused look resulting in her taking he matter into her own hands. She squirmed so much that he had no choice but to put her down as she turned and rushed to the cupboard and undid the lock on it only to open the door just as her dad came over behind her. "Hello?" Lily said as she went to step into the cupboard but her dad caught her and held her back as he held up his wand with his other hand as a light formed on the tip illuminating something that shocked both Lily and Severus.

Inside of the cupboard was a small mattress with a torn piece of quilt and slightly under the torn quilt was a boy who looked about the same age as Lily if not slightly smaller in stature, with brilliant green eyes, eyes that Severus would know anywhere. The child before him and his daughter was Harry! "H-Harry…" Severus said in shock as the boy looked toward him only for Lily to pull away and walk closer smiling at Harry as she held out a pale hand to him.

"You want to come?" she asked as Harry looked at her in shock due to how no one had ever been kind to him, not even his own family. Yet here this girl was before him, smiling a pure smile and offering him an escape. With a little hesitation, Harry reached up with his right hand as he placed it in Lily's, never taking his emerald green eyes off of her as she helped him up from the mattress and out of the cupboard to be standing before her dad only for Severus to notice then that Harry's left arm looked badly bruised as he thought of the night before as he felt slight panic at the thought but pushed it aside only to scoop up both Harry and Lily. Though as he carried them from the house and back to where he had apparated to before, the whole time Harry did not let go of Lily's hand, almost acting as though it were a life line, even as Severus disapparated with the two.

**A/N:** I am sorry about the delay with this update. I had planned to have it up by yesterday but some unexpected thing came up. Hope everyone enjoyed it. I want to thank Toraach and for their reviews. I will try to not take as long with the update for the next chapter.


	3. Three Years Later

**Three Years Later**

Severus had been through hell after he and Lily had taken Harry from the Dursley's that fateful day, but even when the Ministry had attempted to remove Harry, the boy had refused to let himself be separated from Lily. It had been near instant that the two had formed a bond that was almost like nothing that Severus had ever seen before. Except for in himself. When he had fallen for Harry's mother at a young age, but something told Severus that was not the case here. All due to how he could see love between the two children but Severus preferred to think that was not something his daughter would be thinking about for several years to come due to how she was still his baby girl. Though he had to admit that it seemed the two were beyond the point of a handful, more so since shortly after removing Harry from his relatives house, Dumbledore had rushed to move Severus, Lily, Harry and Twinkle back to Hogwarts full time. Mainly due to how it was not safe for them to live where Severus and Lily had been because of how the Minister of Magic, Cornelius Fudge, was determined to have Severus taken in for kidnapping and an investigation done into who his daughter was and to remove Harry back to his relatives. Though that had all been during the school year of 1985-1986. However when it had been made public that Harry had been abused and neglected by his relatives, he was allowed to stay in Severus' care under the insistence from Dumbledore, and even more so when the Auror's had tried to take Harry from where he had been beside Lily in the court room, Lily had shown her own magic as Harry clung to her.

Just the thought of everyone's surprise when that had happened brought a smile to Severus' face as he now sat grading papers at the table in the small living area he had at Hogwarts as he knew that his daughter and Harry were asleep in their room, since it was just a two bedroom living space they had been sharing one for the last three years. Though Severus shook his head slightly as he went to finishing grading the summer homework essays he had assigned to the second through the seventh year students. Though as he was reading an essay over the dangers of the improper brewing of a polyjuice potion, he felt his mind wander to that day in the court room. Several Auror's had been keeping Severus back as well as insisting Dumbledore stay back while another had gone over to where Lily and Harry were sitting on the benches with Hagrid who had come along to help the small children feel safe while Severus was having to deal with being questioned.

When the Auror had reached for Harry, both he and Lily had seemed to vanish just as there was a flash from a necklace that Lily wore. A second later when the light faded the two children were nowhere to be seen and it caused a major uproar that two children just vanished while within the Ministry. It took several hours of the Auror's, Hagrid, Severus, Dumbledore and several other staff of the Ministry looking for the children before they were found in the Misuse of Muggle Artifacts office happily chasing the department memos that were flying around the room under the supervision of Arthur Weasley. It had been Severus who found them as Dumbledore and Hagrid had been close behind him and caught up only to see Lily and Harry run over to Severus as he knelt down and embraced the two small children. Severus found himself thanking Arthur over and over for how he did not report the two children, more so with how Arthur said the two had just appeared out of thin air and had given him quite a fright. Though that he recognized Harry instantly when he had seen the boys lightning bolt shaped scar, and Lily because his eldest son, Bill, had described her to him after seeing her at Hogwarts during the school year.

Though with the thought of the Weasley's, Severus realized that after this next year he would need to find a suitable person to help since the eldest Weasley child was going to graduate at the end of this upcoming term. Sure there was the second and third Weasley children that could help since it seemed that Harry and Lily both were attached to them, well except for the youngest in the school at the moment since as Lily was always saying, "He is no fun!"

Just the thought of the look Lily made, a mix between a look of frustration and a pout brought a smile to Severus' face as he thought it was something beyond amusing that she had down at times even when she had been a small baby. However he did not get to linger on those thoughts all due to how there was a small pop sound only for him to hear the rushed squeaky voice of Twinkle, who insisted on remaining the Snape family personal house elf even though they had returned to Hogwarts. "What is it Twinkle?" he asked in a patient voice as what the small house elf had been yelling had sounded like nothing more than a jumbled mess.

"Master Severus!" Twinkle squeaked in a frantic tone. "I cannot find Master Harry or Mistress Lily anywhere! And Twinkle has looked all over the rooms and through the dungeon!" Twinkle said in a frantic tone as Severus was wide eyed, the quill in his hand falling limply from his hand as he looked toward the trembling elf. It wasn't that he was a violent man, it was just that Twinkle was a jumpy elf especially when it came to the safety of the two children, more so with Lily for some reason.

"Where was the last place you saw them?" Severus asked in a tone that showed he was fighting to keep himself calm.

Twinkle gulped as she looked up at her master. "I…I is seeing them when I put them down for a nap after they spent the day playing." Twinkle said as Severus knew that was likely when the two had managed to slip away from the watchful house elf. "When I went to check on them, both of them were gone, master." She said as Severus reached up pinching the bridge of his nose between his thumb and pointer finger as he was going through a list of places that the two had a habit of disappearing to.

At the moment only two places really stuck out to Severus. Hagrid's hut and running around the school with or searching for the two eldest Weasley boys, Bill and Charlie. Figuring those two were likely the only options to helping find the two small children, Severus lowered his hand from before his face as he looked toward the frantic trembling house elf before him. "Twinkle, first I need you to calm down." He said as the house elf started trying to calm herself as best she could. "Now, I am going to check around the school, I want you to go down to Hagrid's and see if the kids are down there." He said as Twinkle nodded before vanishing with a faint pop as Severus stood from his desk and rushed from his private quarters to head out to find the two children who seemed to love playing hide and seek. Though part of him was not surprised since Hogwarts was a vast castle with numerous mysteries that would beyond fascinate any child, and with how Lily and Harry were both eight years old, it was possibly seen as the ultimate playground.

/

An hour earlier, Lily and Harry had been put in their room that they shared in the Dungeon quarters with Severus only for them to decide to sneak out of the room and go play since it was a nice day out. So they had managed to sneak out past the office in the living quarters where Severus was working as they then headed out through the door and past the portrait at the end of a short hallway. Lily peeked around the corner before gesturing to Harry who followed close behind her. Though as they ran up the corridor together, Lily's long black hair that fell to her shoulder blades moved about and behind her as her blue eyes shown with happiness at the thought of getting some fresh air, even more so as she looked at Harry.

He was still one of small stature, like Lily, but he had a healthier look about him now compared to three years ago when Severus and Lily had rescued him. His emerald green eyes were behind a pair of round spectacles as his black hair went in every direction, something that Lily always said she thought was unique about him. Since Severus' hair fell all but perfect but Harry's never did, not even when Twinkle fussed and tried to insist something be done to tame the boy's hair until Lily asked the frantic house elf to back down.

Though as the two found their way out of the dungeons, they glanced around before going to head toward the vast entry doors to the school only to hear a voice from behind them, one that the two knew all too well. The voice of the headmaster, Albus Dumbledore.

Albus had been walking down the staircase to the entry hall only to see the two youngest residents of the school heading toward the large doors. "Harry! Lily!" he called as the two small children froze only to look back over their shoulders at the same time at the older wizard as he finished stepping down the stairs and walking across the entry hall toward the two. He had an amused yet curious look on his face behind his half-moon spectacles as his blue eyes seemed to be twinkling with amusement. "Where are the two of you going?" he asked as Harry and Lily glanced at one another with nervous smiles. "Does Severus know that the two of you are out alone?" Albus asked as he stood before the two children.

"Um…" Harry said nervously as he looked down fidgeting with the hem of his green summer sweater, the same style as Lily's blue one that she was currently wearing.

"He was busy so we thought we would go play." Lily said as Albus looked toward the young girl before shaking his head at her as Lily had a feeling that the headmaster was going to just escort them back to the dungeon quarters when the two wanted to go out and play near the lake. "You won't tell dad that we snuck out again will you?" Lily asked as Albus gave her a look while she was looking at him with a pleading expression as even Harry was beside her since both were just wanting to be allowed some fresh air.

After a few moments Albus smiled at the two children as he rested his hands on their heads. "I won't tell your father, Lily." He said as Lily looked beyond happy at that but then Albus continued. "On the condition that I accompany you and the two of you do not run off." Albus said in a serious tone as Harry and Lily both smiled up at the old headmaster while the nodded.

"We promise!" the two said happily in unison.

Once outside Harry and Lily both looked around with looks of wonder on their faces as Albus walked along behind them being sure to keep the two in his sight since sure Hogwarts was a safe place, but it could still be dangerous for two children venturing around even on the grounds unattended. Though after an hour of walking around the lake and the grounds Albus caught the two children stifling yawns as he figured that they were in need of a nap but not while outside so Albus started to steer the children back toward the castle as the doors flew open only for Severus to come rushing from the doors as Albus knew what the younger male was so worried about. So he drew his wand and sent some sparks that caught the younger man's attention as he came rushing over only for both Harry and Lily to hide behind Albus. Due to how both were worried they would be scolded for running off on their babysitter when she turned her back.

It was not long before Severus stood before the older wizard as he glanced down at where he knew his daughter and Harry were hiding. Though before he could say anything he heard the voice of Albus drawing his attention.

"You might want to start making time to bring them out to play or see if the Weasley boys will watch them or even Hagrid." Albus suggested as Severus gave the older wizard a bit of a confused look due to how it seemed almost out of the blue for the older man to say that. Before Severus could ask what he meant, Albus continued. "That is why they decided to sneak off because they knew you were busy but they were wanting to come out and play since it is a lovely day out." Albus said as he could see some of the frustration fading away from Severus' face at hearing that.

"That may be." Severus said in a low tone which revealed that he was still somewhat annoyed that his daughter and her friend had gone so far as to take off like they had when they surely knew that it was not safe for them to venture around unsupervised. "But it does not excuse them running off without at least asking for me to find someone to watch them so they could play." Severus said as Lily peeked around from behind the headmaster. "You should know better, Lillian Snape!" Severus said as Lily flinched slightly since she could tell from her father's tone that he was beyond upset still. "And you as well Harry Potter!" Severus said as Harry had moved to try and comfort Lily while she was upset. "Now say good bye to the headmaster, because the two of you are grounded for the next two weeks!" he said as Lily and Harry nodded and walked fully out from behind Albus. Though as they walked over to be closer to Severus neither noticed that there was still a twinkle in the headmasters eyes. However Severus did notice as he thought the man was insufferable with how he seemed to find amusement at what was going on. Granted Severus knew a dark secret with why the headmaster was the way he was toward Lily and Harry, and Severus wished to protect them from the headmaster for that reason.

Though as the two children walked over closer Severus grabbed Harry by the scruff of his shirt and grabbed Lily's hand before heading up to the castle with the two as Lily was insisting that they were sorry but Severus did not pay much attention to the pleas from his daughter. Though when they got back into the school he noticed that two Gryffindor students coming from the Great Hall, both were second years. Levi Lupin, a youth that was all but the thorn in Severus' side who had the face of his father, but black hair that framed his face but was cut short and blue eyes looking out from behind his hair that seemed to never hold warmth. The other was a youth in horn rimmed glasses with freckles and red hair, the youngest Weasley at the school at the moment, Percy. Without paying much mind to the two students, Severus turned and dragged his daughter and Harry down into the dungeons.

However before her father had gone to start dragging her toward the dungeon and down to their living quarters, Lily had glanced toward Levi. It was his second year and yet every time he looked at her he had a look of pure disgust whenever he saw her. Something that Lily did not understand since she had only once before interacted with Levi and that was the year before when she and Harry had been sitting in on a potions lesson that her father was teaching. Mainly due to how since Severus had exposed her to potion brewing since she had been very young since Lily found it fascinating, he sometimes had her walk around the room and see what the students were doing or walk around with him. However that day had been different.

Lily had left Harry's side as he was standing by Percy who seemed more intent on ignoring the boy than anything while he was leaned over his cauldron. Something that had led to Lily venturing away from the two boys. Though as Lily was walking she had abruptly tripped and fell to the ground with a thud as she fought back tears since she had caught the edge of the table leg on her head as she felt that her head was spinning at the moment. She leaned up as she could hear rushing footsteps, ones that she saw were her father as he knelt down beside her as she glanced at him and he stressed for her to remain still since she was bleeding from her head.

Though as Severus carefully shifted Lily, she heard Harry come over to check on her as well only for her to hear a new male voice speak from behind her father. "Should really watch where you are stepping, whelp!" the cold voice had said as Lily only saw who had said it when her father stood with her in his arms while cradling her close and turned toward the student. One who he towered over as Lily could feel the anger almost radiating from her father as he held her only for him to say in a low tone but was easily able to be heard through the entire dungeon classroom.

"Fifty points from Gryffindor and a week of detention, Mr. Lupin!" Severus had said before he had turned from the offending student. "Class dismissed! Everyone clean up and get out!" he ordered before he had grabbed Harry's hand and proceeded to drag the boy along with him out of the classroom to head up to the infirmary to make sure that Lily would be alright. However the whole way there she tried to insist to her father that she was fine but he wouldn't listen saying that she was bleeding bad. Which had been true since the crimson color was staining her midnight black hair and even radiating against her pale skin as it fell down her face as well.

It had seemed that from that day on any time Lily saw Levi he always seemed to glare or scowl at her as though she had done something to wrong him. Which had led to when she was allowed out of the hospital she had been unable to sleep that night so she had slipped from her room that she shared with Harry as she went to the living room to find her father there reading a book before the fireplace. She had hesitated for a second before walking over as her long white night gown that went down to her ankles shifted as there was small taps on the stone floor from her slippers tapping as she stepped, something that had drawn the attention of her father.

Severus had heard the small sound and glanced up to see that it had been Lily as he stood dropping the book to the table as he went over and scooped Lily up in his arms. "Lily, it is late you should be resting." He said in a worried tone before the young child shifted and threw her small arms around him as she was crying into his shoulder. "Lily? What is wrong?" he asked as he moved back to the couch and sat down holding her close while he could feel the small child shaking from her trying to keep her crying silent but he could still feel her tears soaking the shoulder of his shirt but he did not care in the slightest.

"W-why was that boy mean to me?" Lily asked as she shifted to lean back so she was sitting on her father's lap looking toward him as there were still trails from the tears down her pale face as she looked to be on the verge of crying again. "What did I do to him for him to be so mean?" she asked as Severus was at a loss for a few moments before he shook his head and forced away any thoughts to hurt the student who dared to act cruel towards his child for no reason, at least there had been no reason behind it in Severus' eyes.

After a few moments of thinking and trying to silently comfort his child, Severus spoke in a soft voice as he did not want Lily thinking that she had upset him in any way. "I am not sure why he was mean to you." He said in a gentle tone as Lily continued to silently cry into his shoulder, something that made his heart feel like it was about to shatter. All due to how he wished for nothing more than for her to know nothing but happiness. "Though try not to think about it Lily, because you did nothing wrong." He said before he started to slightly rock back and forth on the couch as he continued to hold Lily close until he felt her silent crying had stopped as she was still in his arms only for him to stand and carry her back to her and Harry's room. Harry was sound asleep as Severus quietly crossed the room to where Lily's bed was as he gently placed her down and brought up her blanket only to tuck it around her before he leaned over her and kissed her on the forehead. "Sweet dreams, Lil." He whispered before he left the room quietly closing the door behind himself.

Though Lily was torn from thinking of that when they started down the stairs as she looked up at her father with a sad expression due to how he seemed to be beyond upset with her, that or was it that he was upset because of how Levi had been giving her an annoyed look again for no reason? She was not sure but after a few moments, when they were only a few corridors away from the quarters in the dungeon, did Lily speak up. "Dad, we aren't in trouble for wanting to go play are we?" she asked looking up at her dad with her large blue eyes as Severus slowed down slightly to allow the two children to walk beside him.

"You are, because I have told you more times than I want to count that it is dangerous for you and Harry to go running off through the school unattended. You are both very lucky that the headmaster was the one that found you instead of anyone who might have hurt the two of you." He said as he was actually worried that those from his own house would not hesitate to hurt at least Harry since he was the one that had led to a lot of their parents being disgraced or family members thrown in Azkaban after the fall of Voldemort.

Lily lowered her eyes from looking at her father to look to Harry who looked beyond worried due to how when Severus was upset he could get very upset in a matter of seconds. That and when they did something they were not supposed to it was not that uncommon for him to enforce what seemed like odd punishments for them to teach them to not break the rules. More so since each time that happened he justified it as a way to help detour the two of them from breaking rules since once they were in school in the next few years then the punishments would be far worse.

Once they got back to the quarters Severus released Lily and Harry only to say for them to go to the couch and sit down. As they were walking over toward there Severus spoke again calling the frantic house elf. "Twinkle!" he said as there was a faint pop only for the house elf to appear in front of Lily and tackle the child to the floor while hugging her and wailing with tears streaming from her hazel eyes as she was yelling in her high pitched squeaky voice as Harry moved back away from the scene with a confused look on his face while Twinkle continued to sob.

"MISTRESS YOU WORRIED TWINKLE SO MUCH! TWINKLE WAS WORRIED YOU HAD BEEN TAKEN! TWINKLE IS A FAILURE AS A HOUSE ELF FOR THE MISTRESS!"

After that it all became pure unintelligible yelling as the house elf continued to say that she thought she was not worthy of even being allowed to serve the small family before Severus walked over and picked up the elf by the back of her uniform she was wearing allowing Lily to sit up.

"Get to the couch." He repeated as Lily nodded before standing and rushing over to the couch to sit by Harry as Severus sat down the frantic elf and straightened waiting for her to calm down as she was slowly calming down before Severus spoke. "Twinkle, we will not be dining up in the Great Hall, so I want you to go to the kitchen and fetch dinner for us so that we may dine here." He said as the teary eyed elf nodded before there was a small pop as she vanished while Severus turned and walked over to stand in front of the couch with his back to the fireplace where a small fire burned while candles in the room along with the fire helped to cast long shadows as his fell on the two children on the couch before him. "Both of you know why you are in trouble this time?" he asked as the two nodded but avoided looking at him as Severus felt they were going to need to learn a hard lesson, so this was going to be something that was going to have to be the harshest punishment he has ever given them due to how this time they had gone way out of bounds by sneaking off. So after a few moments of silence he decided on the punishment for the two. "You are both grounded until the Christmas holiday." He said as both looked up at him ready to protest but he gave them the look he at times gave his students that intimidated the two children to remain silent.

"I am grounding the two of you for that long because of how the two of you all but lied to Twinkle by faking to be asleep and then sneaking out without telling her or myself where the two of you were going. What if something had happened? Neither of us would have known where to even begin looking for you had something happened." Severus said as both Harry and Lily looked down with defeated looks as he figured that meant at least for the time being they had accepted their punishments. "So until the holiday, you are not allowed out of these quarters unless you are with me. You will not be allowed to go to the Quidditch matches between now and then-"

"But that isn't fair!" Harry blurted out only for Severus to glare down at the young boy who seemed to back down instantly when put under the full intensity of his guardian's gaze.

"That is exactly the point, Harry." Severus said in a low tone as he glared down at the boy. "Because the two of your broke one of the biggest rules I have in place to insure the two of you remain safe." He said as he noticed that for the time being the boy was going to back down, which was good because he did not want to have to punish too much further. Though that is when it dawned on him. "The two of you are also not allowed to visit Hagrid for the next two weeks, and even after that you are not to go alone but wait for a time when myself, or Twinkle can escort the two of you down to Hagrid's hut." Severus said as the two children before him nodded. "Now go get a start on your homework and I do not want to hear a word out of the two of you until dinner!" Severus ordered as the two slid off of the couch and rushed to their room only to shut the door. "Keep the door open!" he ordered as he heard the latch come undone and the door open back up.

**A/N:** I am so very sorry for the late update! I had hoped to have this up weeks ago but the scene in the middle of the chapter I had a hard time writing it, but I hope it turned out where everyone will like it. I want to say a very special thanks to Toraach for reviewing the last chapter. I hope that I will be able to update the next chapter soon since I think I have a good rotation figured out for my three active stories. Hopefully the next chapter will be up in the next week or two.


	4. A Father's Love

**A Father's Love**

Severus sat in the living room of his private quarters, having put Lily and Harry to bed an hour or so ago. He sat there in silence, his onyx colored eyes staring into the dancing flames in the fireplace as he found himself becoming more and more lost in them as he thought over how it would soon be the Christmas holiday and that he had at times thought to lift the grounding from Lily and Harry. At least until he reminded himself that the two were still only children and it would have been far too easy and quick for something to happen to them since neither of them were trained to know how to use their magic which made them easy targets for any that might mean harm to them. Though after a few moments, Severus closed his dark eyes as his lips parted ever so slightly to allow a faint sigh to pass through as he was thinking back on when Lily and he had first moved to their home.

It had been a cold morning, even for early November when he had woken the following morning, thinking to himself that there was no way that Dumbledore would have entrusted a small child to him. However as he lay on his bed staring at the new ceiling he heard nothing but silence which allowed him to convince himself that there had been no child, at least until an ear splitting scream tore through the silence. Severus sat bolt upright and ran from his room with his wand drawn only to see through the open door across the hall from his room that there was a crib by the window, and a house elf there cradling the crying baby.

"Oh! Mistress please calm down." The elf was crying along with the small baby who only seemed to cry more with the house elf. "Mistress, please! Twinkle did not mean to wake the mistress!" the elf sobbed only for Severus to become more and more frustrated as he walked into the room setting his wand down on the small dresser beside the door as he walked over and yanked the infant out of the arms of the sobbing elf.

"You are just making the noise worse!" Severus ground out due to how the screaming and crying from the elf and the child were giving him a migraine. Though once he had fallen silent he noticed that the child had stopped crying as well. Shocked to say the least, he looked down at the child to see bright blue eyes staring up at him as there were still tear streaks down from her eyes and even hints of more tears in her large eyes. "What are you looking at?" Severus asked in frustration glaring down at the child in his arms.

He had half expected the crying to start anew only for the child to smile showing a few baby teeth that had already come in as she giggled. "Da!" the girl seemed to squeak as she looked up at Severus only for him to shift her holding her out away from him with his hands under the girls arms as the two just watched one another, Severus with a glare, the girl with a grin on her face.

"I am not your da!" he ground out since Dumbledore may be forcing him to raise this child but he refused to be a parent to her. He had no younger siblings and his parents had not exactly set a good example to allow him to learn how one was to raise or even treat a child. So that alone made Severus question if Dumbledore was going senile in his old age. 'Must be! Who in their right mind would ever think to put a child with someone like me?' Severus thought as the stare off continued between himself and the child that Dumbledore had said was named Lillian. 'That is a beautiful name, but I much prefer Lily or Lil…' Severus thought before his onyx eyes went wide as he shook his head only to hear a giggle from the baby. Though Severus opened his eyes and glared at the baby. "What is so funny?" he asked before he heard a soft voice from the house elf who was standing close to him.

"Master Severus, please be gentle with Mistress Lillian." The house elf said as Severus looked down at her as onyx glared into hazel. "She is just upset, sir." The elf continued as Severus recalled the name of the elf was Twinkle.

"Of course she is upset, you were screaming your head off." Severus said coldly as he felt tapping on his wrists only to look and see that it was the baby Lillian doing it. Though as he looked at her he felt a pang of sadness as when he thought of her name, he pictured the woman he loved. "Take care of her!" Severus said suddenly thrusting the baby toward Twinkle as he turned on his heel and went over to the dresser retrieving his wand from there and leaving the room even as he heard a cry from behind him.

"Da! Da!" Lillian kept crying after how he had discarded her to the house elf, though he did not look back, but just went down to the basement of the small house that he worked on converting to be a lab for him to work on developing and brewing potions as need be. Though for the moment all he wanted was to bury himself in the art he excelled in to flood out the memories that were stabbing at his conscience.

Severus opened his eyes to find himself once more staring into the flames in the fireplace. He found it surprising how even from the beginning, Lily had been determined to never be pushed away. Sure he had ended up reading some books on parenting that a few of the other professors had pushed off on him once he had started working at Hogwarts a short while later, but that had led to him growing concerned. All due to how he could not just ask Lily why she cried so much when he left her alone with Twinkle or when she woke after being put in her crib or to bed once she outgrew the crib. So he had instead gone to ask Dumbledore about the truth of Lily's true parents. Severus leaned back more against the dark material of the arm chair he was sitting on as his mind went to a later time, after his first week of teaching Potions.

He had just finished a class for the first years as he went to gather up the essays he would need to spend the weekend grading only for a frantic Twinkle to appear before him with a screaming Lily beside the elf. "What did you do this time to upset her?!" Severus roared as he rushed around the desk to gather Lily up in his arms as Twinkle was frantic as she answered.

"Twinkle only put the young Mistress down for a nap and she woke crying." Twinkle said in a frantic tone as she looked as though she was afraid to be punished since Severus had left the elf in charge of taking care of Lily while he was teaching. Though in Severus' mind he considered scolding the elf, but something told him that it was not her fault, but that there was a much deeper problem. So banishing any thoughts of punishing Twinkle for how upset Lily was, Severus went back over to his desk while Lily had buried her small face into the base of his neck slightly on his shoulder as he used his free hand to gather up the essays before handing them to Twinkle.

"Take these to my rooms and then prep a snack for Lily, we will be back shortly." He ordered as Twinkle nodded to him with tears brimming in her hazel colored eyes as she bowed only to vanish. Not even a second later, Severus was walking toward the door of the room, which he opened only to close it behind himself and set off up the corridor leading out of the dungeons. Ignoring the looks he got from some students that he past, Severus made his way to the headmaster's office as he stopped before the statue only to say the password. "Cauldron cake." He said as the stone gargoyle moved to the side to reveal the spiraling staircase that led to the headmaster's office at the top.

Without any hesitation, Severus started up the stairs as he soon reached the headmaster's door as he did not even bother to knock since to him it was an emergency. So as soon as he entered he spotted the older wizard as he walked over with a furious look on his face. "Headmaster!" Severus ground out drawing the attention of the older man who had been looking at a piece of parchment on the desk before himself. "We need to have a serious discussion." He said in an annoyed tone as the older man looked up at Severus over his half-moon spectacles, an annoying twinkle in his blue eyes.

"About your daughter?" Dumbledore asked but Severus scowled at the older wizard. "Severus, surely you have come to accept that Lily is your daughter, it has been almost a year." He said since Lily was two years old now but she clung to Severus, though she had cried herself to sleep long before they had even reached the office.

"No, I have not, nor will I ever accept she is mine." Severus ground out in frustration. "But I need to know what could be causing her to be so clingy to me, more so than any child with separation anxiety, it is to the point of ridiculous!" Severus said in an annoyed low tone so as to not risk waking the child who was asleep in his arms. "I need to know why exactly you placed her with me!" Severus said in frustration as he felt Lily stir against him.

The twinkle died in Dumbledore's eyes as he brought his hands up to intertwine his fingers before him while his elbows rested before him on his desk. "First, have Twinkle come and take Lily back to your quarters, I do not wish to risk the chance that she may even unconsciously remember this conversation." Dumbledore said in a serious tone as Severus nodded at him, glad that after a year he was finally going to be told why he was the one Lily was placed with.

"Twinkle!" Severus called as the small house elf appeared beside him bowing. Though he did not allow the elf to speak as he removed Lily's grip around his neck and handed her to the elf. "Take her back to my quarters and give her the snack I told you to prepare and then do not let her out of your sight." He said as Twinkle nodded, accepting the toddler who was slowly starting to wake before Twinkle vanished with Lily before she could begin to fuss, the way she always did when handed over to the elf rather than be allowed close to Severus. Once the elf had left with the toddler, Severus turned back to the headmaster. "Now, tell me why did you choose me, and why is Lily so clingy toward me!" he demanded but Dumbledore merely gestured for Severus to take a seat before intertwining his fingers once again as the younger man took a seat facing the headmaster.

There was a few moments of silence between the two as Dumbledore seemed lost in thought before he spoke. "First off, I want you to know that even when I tell you the truth, you will not be allowed to back out of guardianship of Lily." Dumbledore said in a matter of fact tone as Severus glared at the older man due to how that made it sound like he knew that was what Severus was considering since the child was so clingy to him that it was unnatural. "Is that understood?" Dumbledore asked matching Severus' glare with a stern look over his half-moon spectacles.

After several moments, Severus finally relented as he closed his eyes, sighing in frustration. "Alright, I will not relinquish my guardianship of that child." He said since he was forcing himself to not feel attachment to Lily all due to how every time he developed attachment for another living thing, person or pet, they always died leaving him alone.

"Good." Dumbledore said before leaning back ever so slightly. "I guess I should start from the beginning." He said as he looked toward the ceiling as though recalling some memory. "It started when you would have been in in the last year of the wizarding war." Dumbledore said as he paused for a brief moment. "After you overheard the prophecy pertaining to Harry, Sybil made another prediction just two months before Lily was born." Dumbledore said which mean about mid-June because of how Lily was born on August thirteenth. Though after a second, Dumbledore continued. "This prophecy was that one who was to be the greatest ally to the one to bring about the fall of the dark lord would be born shortly after, and that the child would bear and odd mark, branding them a child of the night or child of the moon."

"And this child was Lily?" Severus asked in a skeptical tone since he had never once seen a mark even related to that dark mark on the child. However Dumbledore nodded to confirm it. "Forgive me, but I have never seen such a mark on the child." Severus said but Dumbledore sighed.

"It is because when she was born with it, her parents both begged me to cast concealment charms and spells on their child. Since the mark would be easy to identify should it be seen." Dumbledore said as he kept a stern gaze on Severus. "The mark of the black crescent upon the child's back between the shoulder blades. It is a mark Lily was born with and that by my spells and charms, is kept hidden so that she may know a normal childhood before her true destiny is revealed." Dumbledore said in a grave tone. "Because while she may be the greatest ally for Harry, she is also destined to bring him nothing but heartache and misery."

"But how is that?" Severus cut in before Dumbledore could continue. "From what I have seen this last year from her, she is nothing but a pure hearted child. Not even capable of doing anything like that to anyone. Unless one counts how she won't let me get a peaceful nights rest unless she is asleep right beside me." Severus said in a low frustrated tone. All due to how that was true, that since Lily had gone home with him, he had not gotten a single nights rest.

"I was getting to that." Dumbledore said in a calm tone. "It is because of how Lily was only allowed to be with her family until shortly before the Potter's were killed." Dumbledore said. "Truth be told, due to an affliction she has, as soon as she was born her mother became weaker and weaker until she passed around mid-October." Dumbledore said in a grave tone due to how he was not sure how the younger man before him might react to this. "From there her father entrusted her to me as he sent his son who was four at the time to live with relatives, meanwhile he entrusted his infant daughter to me, begging me to place her in the safest place I could think of. I gave him a set of conditions. That he relinquish full custodial rights to the child until she is thirteen, at which point he is allowed to resume contact should he wish to, but not before then." Dumbledore said as Severus gave him a frustrated look. "However, your custody of her will not be revoked, since the safest place for Lily is with you."

"Oh yeah!" Severus said sarcastically. "With one who is an ex Death Eater, and seen as the worst human to walk the face of the earth by many of the student body." Severus said in frustration but Dumbledore merely smiled at him.

"You will come to see it my way." He said happily. "Because even if you try to resist, you know that I am right. That you need Lily just as much as she needs you." Dumbledore said only for Severus to stand and leave since he figured that was all that the headmaster would tell him about where Lily had come from. Something told him that Dumbledore was deliberately holding back on telling him who Lily's biological father was. Though as Severus was walking along the corridors back to his private quarters he felt himself wondering why Dumbledore insisted that Lily and him both needed one another.

'That is not likely.' Severus thought as he entered the dungeons of the school heading deeper down the corridor with every echoing footstep. 'The only one by that name that I ever wanted or needed is gone, and just because the child shares the same name does not mean that I need her or that she needs me…' Severus thought as he had figured that leaving the child primarily in the care of the house elf who seemed to love caring for the child was the best course of action, since at least that way the child would have someone who did care for them. Because he had never really been loved, except by Lily Evans, so he did not know the first thing about caring for another person.

Thinking back on that, Severus found it hard to believe that he had once had a wall around his heart to try and keep himself from loving his daughter, but at the same time he knew that it was because of how he had been afraid of allowing himself to love. All because of his past. Thinking of that Severus unconsciously brought his right hand to his left forearm, where under the sleeve of his shirt lay the dark mark that he had taken in his foolish youth. A decision that had cost him dearly. 'What if Lily were to ever find out about it? Would she hate me just the same as the woman I loved did?' he thought to himself as he lived each day with that worry since he knew at the moment his daughter was too young to understand what the mark on his arm would mean. Though that did not stop him from doing all he could to conceal it from her.

'I will not allow her to know that darkness, even if it is to be her fate…' he thought to himself since in the time since when Dumbledore had first told him the reason that he had placed Lily with him up to a month after that, Severus had continued to be distant until Dumbledore had put his foot down. A memory that Severus now felt his mind drifting to as he allowed it to do so as the memory played out in his mind.

Dinner had just concluded and Severus had summoned Twinkle, ordering the elf to take Lily who had refused to sit in her high chair for dinner but wanted to sit on Severus' lap. A request he kept ignoring to the point that Minerva McGonagall had come over, scolded Severus before picking up the fussing Lily and took her back over to her seat and sat the small girl on her lap. 'Good riddance!' Severus had thought in pure frustration at the time, and more so when the elf had come and retrieved the girl. Though as he had gone to head from the Great Hall, sending glares at any student who dared to look at him in a mocking way for how a toddler was making him look like a pure jackass in front of the rest of the professors, he heard a stern voice call his name.

"Severus! A word, if you please." The voice he knew all too well, it was the voice of none other than Albus Dumbledore.

Severus had stopped in his tracks and allowed an annoyed sigh to escape from his lips before he looked back at the older wizard. "I really do not have time, because I have essays to grade and then prep for more classes tomorrow." He said in a frustrated tone but Dumbledore ignore that as he walked along the table toward the younger wizard. "So another time, headmaster." Severus said only for him to turn and try to walk away, had it not been for the hand that rested upon his shoulder.

"No, now." Dumbledore said in a tone that showed he would not accept no for an answer. Even more so when Dumbledore proceeded to lead Severus by keeping his hand on the younger man's shoulder out of the great hall and then proceeding to his office. "This has to stop!" Dumbledore said in a calm but stern tone to Severus who merely rolled his eyes.

"You told me to raise the child-" He started but Dumbledore interrupted.

"Lily. Her name is Lily and she is your daughter, a fact that you seem to be resisting to the best of your abilities, something that in doing so you are condemning her!" Dumbledore said in a frustrated but oddly calm tone as he walked around his desk and sat down gesturing for Severus to take a seat as well, which the younger man did but it was obvious that he was reluctant to do so. "You know so little, and yet it seems I have been left with no choice but to tell you the full truth about why Lily was placed with you of all people when she could have been easily placed with Minerva or even another family all together." He said as Severus gave Dumbledore a shocked look.

"Are you really going to tell me or are you just saying that you plan to only to withhold certain bits?" he asked as he was slightly doubting that the older wizard would do as he had said since before he had only scratched the surface from what Severus was guessing.

"I believe this will explain it further." Dumbledore said as he opened one of the doors on his desk and pulled out a small orb that had a fog within it as he placed it down on the desk as the smooth surface was facing toward Severus, something he noticed.

"A prophecy, but it surely couldn't be about the girl…Lily." He said as he caught the look from Dumbledore that forced him to refer to the child by her name.

"It does, and unless something changes, then part of this prophecy will come true that will mean nothing but chaos." Dumbledore said as he picked up the orb and dropped it upon his desk as it shattered, releasing the mist into the room as an odd darkness seemed to overtake everything before a voice began to echo in the darkness.

_The time of the Chosen one is close at hand, though another with great power to aid or destroy the chosen one is also fast approaching. Before the month is half done, the one meant to help or destroy the hope of all will be born. She will be born with the mark of darkness upon her at birth, as within little over a year her journey will begin. Should she be denied by all, she will become the Child of Darkness, and aid the Dark Lord. Should she be allowed to know love in different forms, her heart will remain with light and she will aid the Chosen One in his coming battle. _

Seconds after the prophecy was done reciting, the darkness cleared as Severus gave Dumbledore a confused look. "So Lily is the one in this prophecy?" he asked in a skeptical tone since he had seen nothing but pure light in the child since she had been given to him. "I find that hard to believe, headmaster." Severus said showing he was skeptical of the contents of the prophecy but Dumbledore shook his head at the disbelief of the younger wizard.

"She is. She has the potential to be a strong and great ally for the fight against Voldemort," Severus flinched only for Dumbledore to ignore that and continue, "when he eventually returns, or should she be denied knowing acceptance and love, she will end up siding with Voldemort." Once again Severus flinched at the name of the Dark Lord but Dumbledore once again ignored it.

"If her fate relies on her feeling loved, then why give her to someone like me?" he asked in a low tone as he was confused and frustrated at the same time. Surely Dumbledore knew that he, Severus, was incapable of loving another after how his heart had been broken when he had accidentally pushed away the woman he loved into the arms of the one who had tormented him all through school.

"I did so because you are the only one suited for it. You have an overflowing amount of love to give, and are in need of being loved more than any other person that I know." Dumbledore said in a matter of fact tone as though it were obvious.

"That is ridiculous!" Severus ground out in frustration since he had in his own mind made peace with that he would not ever be loved by another after what he had done to Lily Evans. Though despite that small outburst the headmaster remained with the same set look on his face, showing that the old man still believed that he was right. "Place her with someone else, I am sure McGonagall would love to have a daughter." Severus said in an upset tone as he went to stand only to hear the voice of the older wizard once again.

"Try opening your heart to her, I am sure you will not regret it because as I have told you before. You and Lily need one another." He said as Severus merely turned his back to the headmaster before he headed out of the office and down toward the dungeons to his own quarters.

Severus closed his eyes as he was thinking on that memory, mainly the prophecy. Even now it rang clear in his mind even though it had been some time since he had thought about it. 'I still do not see what it could be that would cause her to not know love besides my own fear of loving her as my own for the first year that she was in my care…' he thought to himself as he thought then on the night his heart truly did open up to Lily.

It was during the Christmas holiday that same year. Severus had been against any decorations in his quarters, and yet Twinkle had insisted for Lily's sake, so Severus permitted it but only in the child's room. However it did not remain that way for very long all due to how Lily had persisted on dragging decorations out and leaving them in random places despite Severus getting worked up and scolding the child. Yet each time Lily merely smiled innocently at him as the words of the prophecy rang clear in his mind of how Lily would either be a great ally for the Potter boy or for the dark lord, something he found to be all but impossible with that sweet smile. However he went about continuing to ignore her, despite the girl's obvious attempts to get his attention.

Just a few days before Christmas, it happened. The day that the ice around Severus' heart was melted and he allowed the love for Lily to come flowing through. All due to how early in the morning there had been a faint sound of someone in his room as he slept only for him to open his eyes and after a moment they focused and revealed the small child standing not too far from his room as she looked like she had been standing there for a while barefoot as her small feet could be seen under the hem of her light blue night gown as her dark hair fell about her pale face.

"Daddy? Why you no love me?" she asked in a small voice as Severus had shifted only to freeze and look at the small child with shock and confusion evident on his face, even more so when he saw tears brimming in the child's round eyes. "What I do wrong?" Lily asked looking at the one she saw as her father with tears threatening to start falling once again due to how she was near the point of breaking. She almost wondered if it was worth it to do this one last desperate attempt at being loved, something that Severus could see in her expression.

"Lily, what makes you think that you did something wrong?" Severus asked as he sat up, his blanket falling away revealing his long sleeve grey shirt and black pajama pants he was wearing as his onyx eyes remained on the child before him.

"I always do something wrong." She said sniffling ever so slightly. "No one ever want me, not even daddy." Lily said in a sad tone showing that it was as the headmaster had told Severus. Lily had been denied being loved since she was born…much like Severus had been. "You no want me?" Lily asked bringing Severus out of his thoughts as he gave her a shocked look due to how the sorrow in her voice was almost unbelievable that a child could feel that much.

"No, it is not that." Severus said, his voice shaking ever so slightly before he gestured with his left hand to Lily. "Come sit up here before you catch a cold." He said as the small child before him slowly walked closer but she was not yet tall enough to reach the bed to do more than tug at it so when she was close enough, Severus lifted her up onto the bed and then turned slightly to face her. "It is complicated with why I have been shutting myself away from you." He said but the tears remained in the round blue eyes that stared at him.

"So you leave like everyone?" Lily asked showing that despite her being very young that she still apparently had vague memories of how she had been abandoned by her real father, something that for some reason pained Severus.

"No! I will not leave." Severus said before he realized what he was saying, but it had already been said, and Lily was staring up at him with tears in her eyes. "I will not leave you because you are…" he trailed off only for Lily to get on her hands and knees and crawl over closer to Severus and onto his lap only to snuggle against his chest.

"A monster?" she asked in a shaking voice, not seeing how the two words she had spoken had rattled Severus. All due to how he was sure that she was the opposite, she was so pure that there was no way that she could be a monster, so why would she say such a thing.

"Why do you think you are a monster?" Severus asked after a moment but Lily did not answer, but remained silent against him. Hesitantly he brought his arms up and encircled he only to in that moment realize just how small and frail the child…no Lily, was. Though with having realized that and not even thinking of what he said next, he held her closer as he whispered. "No, I do not want to know that, because you are not a monster. You are _mine_. My little Lily." Severus whispered as he soon realized that Lily had fallen asleep against him, something that he could not help but smile at all due to how in her sleep she was smiling when he repositioned her so that he could see her face once again. After a moment, Severus shifted so that he was on his knees holding Lily's small sleeping form as he placed her down on the other side of his double bed before bringing the midnight black comforter up and tucking it around the small child before he laid back down as well. He was about to fall back asleep himself only to feel shifting on the mattress as he turned his head slightly only to see Lily had inched closer to him. Acting out of an instinct he did not even know he had, Severus brought his hand up only for Lily to catch it in her small hands as she hugged onto it for all she was worth as she fell asleep uttering three small words that caused a flood of emotions in Severus.

"Love you Daddy."

Rising from the armchair, Severus went back to the room that Harry and Lily stayed in. Bringing up his left hand he quietly pushed the door open to see that Harry was sound asleep on his bed, looking more and more like James Potter with each passing day. Something that disgusted Severus, but after seeing first-hand how Harry had been treated by his relatives, Severus had given Harry a chance only to find that he was a well behaved kid, despite sometimes getting into trouble, like what had gotten both Harry and Lily grounded.

Shaking his head ever so slightly at the memory of when he had found Harry and Lily in the company of the headmaster, Severus found his gaze going to his little angel. Lily. She was sound asleep, bunched up on her bed, though she looked like she was having a fitful sleep so Severus quietly walked into the room, brushing his hand against her forehead as she seemed to calm instantly and smiled in her sleep at feeling her father's touch. "Sweet dreams, my little Lily." Severus whispered as he leaned down only to place a gentle kiss on Lily's forehead before he turned and walked from the room, quietly shutting the door behind himself before heading to his own room to go to bed. As he lay down and drifted off to sleep he thought to himself.

'No matter who Lily is related to by blood, she is my daughter.'

**A/N:** I am so sorry about the delay with this update. I am having a bit of a hard time with finding time to sit down and write or type up my stories, as any reading all three of my active stories have probably noticed since it has been over a month since I updated any of my stories, and I feel bad for that. Though I am hoping that despite a bit with the upcoming holiday next month that things will be smoother and allow me more time to write. I want to say a special thanks to Toraach for reading and reviewing every chapter so far. I hope this chapter is to your liking.


	5. Unshakable Love

**Unshakable Love**

The following morning Severus woke and went to go about his usual routine, that is until a frantic Twinkle appeared before him as he sat on the edge of his bed wearing black pajama pants and a grey t-shirt. "What is it this time, Twinkle?" Severus grumbled since he had yet to even have his coffee that morning and already the insane house elf was already in hysterics. At first the elf was just babbling, so Severus tried to catch key words in what the elf was yelling, something he was sure had woken Lily and Harry if they were not already awake. Though when several minutes passed with the elf still rambling, Severus slightly lost his temper and yelled. "Twinkle!" he yelled causing the elf to finally fall silent. "What exactly are you going off about?" he demanded as the small house elf stared up at him with her wide hazel eyes in stunned silence for a few seconds before speaking.

"Mistress has taken ill!" Twinkle suddenly cried out frantically. "Twinkle moved Master Harry to the couch, but Mistress is fitful." Tinkle said as tears began to fall from her large eyes. "Mistress cries out in pain but Twinkle cannot help her." The small elf said as at hearing that, Severus was up and rushing from his room with the elf quick on his heels.

"Go alert Madame Pomfrey that I am bringing Lily to the Hospital Wing and then you are to come back and not let Harry out of your sight!" he ordered as the small elf nodded only to vanish with a pop as Severus pushed open the door to Lily and Harry's room to find his daughter on the bed convulsing. "Lily!" Severus said in shock as he rushed over and went to hold Lily down so that she would not end up falling off of the bed as she seemed to be having a fit. Though it seemed that his yelling had gotten Harry's attention as he was soon at the door staring in, wide eyed behind his round glasses.

"What is wrong with her?" he asked in worry as Severus turned and reluctantly moved away from Lily who was still convulsing but he had quickly cast a small charm to insure she would remain on the bed and not fall off.

"Go back to the living room!" Severus ordered as the look on his face seemed to frighten the small boy before him, all due to how Harry turned and ran from the doorway back toward the living room as fast as he could. With Harry back where he belonged, Severus removed the charm from the bed Lily was on as she was suddenly still as her skin was far paler than usual as he feared the worst only to see she was still breathing from the gentle rise and fall of her chest. "Lily…" he whispered as he carefully gathered the frail form of his daughter in his arms and held her close to his chest relieved that she seemed to be alright, or as alright as could be after what appeared to be near like a seizure.

"Dad…" a small voice called as Severus felt immense relief as he shifted so that he was supporting Lily while holding her where he could look down at her face. Her face was worn and her eyes only half open as though she was about to fall asleep or fighting doing so. "W-what is wrong with me…?" she whispered as Severus found himself unable to answer, more so when he saw something in her eyes. Small flecks of amber scattered through her usually shinning blue eyes. "Please…" she whispered as her eyes drifted closed as she was limp in her father's arms.

"Lil?" Severus whispered only for her to not respond as he began to panic even at seeing how she was still breathing. "Lil…open your eyes!" he pleaded since he was praying he had not seen the small bits of amber in her eyes since that tended to hint at a certain illness but he did not want to think that was possible. Though after a few moments of desperately trying to get Lily to respond, Twinkle appeared with a faint pop and bowed low before Severus who was still cradling his unconscious daughter to his chest.

"Twinkle did as Master instructed. Madame Pomfrey is expecting Master Severus and Mistress Lily." Twinkle said as Severus stood from the bed and placed Lily down and looked toward Twinkle.

"Watch her for a moment." He ordered as he rushed back to his room as he quickly changed, not wishing to deal with any students he may come across if they saw him in the corridor in his pajamas. Once he was in his usual attire of all black, he rushed back to Lily and Harry's room to find Twinkle attempting to calm Lily who was bunched into a ball as Severus rushed over to her and knelt beside the bed as Twinkle moved back. "Lily!" Severus called to her as she slowly looked toward him, there was now more amber in her blue eyes, where it was almost half amber in both. "I am going to take you to the hospital wing." He said as he picked her up only for Lily to go into another fit, where Severus had to struggle just to keep a hold of her before she was calm again only for Severus to hear the small voice of his daughter.

"Dad…it hurts…" she whispered weakly as Severus looked down not seeing any injury, but feeling that she was tense but limp at the same time. "Something is inside me…" she said looking up at the concerned, near frightened face of her father as she was struggling to not go into another fit. "Please…make it stop…" Lily pleaded as Severus held her close as he rushed from the room ordering Twinkle to put Harry back to bed as he was out of their quarters in a rush and running up to the hospital wing holding Lily close as she went into another fit in his arms.

"Hold on, Lily. We are almost to the hospital wing." He whispered praying that his daughter would be alright as when they go to the doors to the hospital wing, Lily was limp in his arm, breathing weakly. No sooner had Severus opened the door and stepped in, Madame Pomfrey was rushing across the wing toward him indicating to the bed he was to put Lily on. Though no sooner had he put her down, her body seized up as Madame Pomfrey rushed to give Lily a dreamless sleep potion which only took a few seconds to take effect as the small child was still on the bed besides the gentle rise and fall of her chest.

"Has this ever happened before?" Madame Pomfrey asked eyeing the potions master as he looked beyond frantic as he stared down at his daughter's pale face only to reach out and brush some of her black hair out of her face. The only answer that Severus was able to give was a slight shake of his head due to how Lily in the whole time she had been his, had never once had anything like a seizure. Which was his guess on what was happening, but he was at a loss for the cause since the amber in her eyes had seemed to increase with each one before she had been put into an all but unconscious state from the dreamless sleep potion.

"I just know that the house elf who helps me with taking care of her and Harry barged into my room and told me that something was wrong with Lily and her eyes were gradually turning more and more amber…" he said after a few moments when he managed to find his voice again.

Madame Pomfrey gave Severus a worried look before she turned on her heel as she spoke saying for him to stay put, not that he needed to be told. Because there was no way he would leave his daughter's side. Even if he had to sit there all night. Though he had taken a seat on a stiff chair beside the bed that Lily was on as he watched her while she was almost unnaturally still, not even realizing the two that were approaching until he heard the voice of the headmaster near the foot of the bed.

"Severus, we need to talk…" was all that the older wizard said only for Severus to glare at him in a way that conveyed that he was not about to leave Lily alone when he did not know what was wrong with her. Though the headmaster was not going to accept even a glare conveying something like that. "Now, so that I can explain to you what is wrong with Lily and how you can help her since we have only a few hours at best to be able to help her before what is wrong with her destroys her from the inside." The headmaster said as Severus glanced back to Lily for a brief second before standing to follow Dumbledore from the hospital wing to his office. It felt like it took far longer than usual, something that Severus was sure was due to how at the moment he was wishing to just turn around and run back to the hospital wing to be with his daughter, but he knew at the moment deep down that the best way to help her was to hear Dumbledore out.

Not long after, but it felt like an eternity to Severus, they were walking into the office of the headmaster as Dumbledore motioned for Severus to take a seat. After hesitating, Severus did so as Dumbledore went over to a cabinet to get out the pensieve from within and carry it back over to the desk and set it down. "I believe it will be easier to show you rather than tell you what is wrong with Lily." Dumbledore said as he saw how Severus was about to ask why he had gotten out the pensieve. A second later, Dumbledore was placing the tip of his wand to his temple and pulling out four silver strands, one at a time before placing them down into the smooth surface. "Come." He said as Severus stood and walked over closer.

"How is this going to help Lily?" Severus asked giving Dumbledore an annoyed look but the calm look on the older man's face conveyed that he was sure that this would actually lead to finding out what could help Lily. So with only a faint amount of hesitation Severus placed his face down closer to the surface only to feel like the office lurched forward sending him down into the liquid, down into the first memory that Dumbledore had placed in the pensieve. After a brief fall through the liquid, Severus righted himself as his feet found the ground, only for him to find that he was in a house, one that he had never seen, but it was plain, more plain than the simple home that he had lived in with Lily before he had also taken custody of Harry. Severus glanced around only hear someone approaching as he turned to see Dumbledore, but he could tell that this one was not the one he had been speaking to a moment before, so he merely fell into step behind the Dumbledore in the memory.

He walked up the stairs as a young boy with jet black hair that framed his face and round blue eyes staring out from behind a few locks of hair that fell into his face. Even though it was a younger version of a current student, Severus knew that it was Levi Lupin, the biggest trouble maker he had ever had the misfortune to teach.

Though he did not get to reflect on that for very long due to how Dumbledore from the memory smiled and spoke to the young boy. "Hello, Levi." He said in a kind voice before glancing around as the boy spoke a greeting as well before Dumbledore continued. "Your father contacted me, saying that he and your mother wished to speak to me?" he asked only for an older male to come from the kitchen and rush forward and shake hands with Dumbledore. One who Severus knew instantly as Remus Lupin, one of the gang that had made Severus' life a living hell during school.

"Professor, thank you so much for coming!" Remus said in a relieved tone as he released Dumbledore's hand as his blue eyes showed nothing but relief. He looked the same as Severus remembered, a little more worn, but still the same sickly looking Remus.

'What does he have to do with my daughter?' Severus thought as he stayed close to those from the memory to hear what was being said.

"Of course, and I am no longer your professor, so you do not need to call me as such." Dumbledore said with a smile as Remus shook his head.

"Old habits die hard." He said nervously before there was a soft voice from behind Remus only for him to turn and rush to the woman's side, one that Severus stared at in shock. She was the girl that he and Lily Evans had visited with in their youth, one of the only muggles where they grew up that had loved being around Severus and Lily despite them being different. Elizabeth…but her last name escaped Severus at the moment.

"Liz, you should be laying down." Remus fussed as he went to help steady Elizabeth as she shook her head as her grown out black hair cascaded about her frail looking shoulders. "But you need to for not just your sake but also our unborn child…" Remus spoke as Severus stared in shock taking in that an old child hood friend was actually what seemed to be eight or near nine months along with child, but something was not right. She looked beyond weak, her skin taut so that her cheek bones were far more defined, and her skin paler, almost as though she were ill.

"I am fine, Remus." Elizabeth said softly with a worn smile before she looked toward Dumbledore and smiled softly before turning to her young son who was tugging at her hand. "Levi, why don't you go play while your father and I have a talk with Professor Dumbledore." She suggested in her soft voice as Levi kept his eyes on his mother as though searching for something before he nodded and went up the nearby stairs. It was not until they heard a door close upstairs that Elizabeth spoke again. "He may be young, but he can already see that this pregnancy is taking a toll…" she said in a soft voice as Remus moved to help support her as he guided her toward the living room and helped her to sit down on the couch. While he had been doing that, Dumbledore had walked into the room and sat down on one of the arm chairs facing the others while Severus stood not too far from the older wizard.

"So, it seems that it is true." Dumbledore said in a grave tone, his blue eyes lacking their usual twinkle as they regarded the frail looking Elizabeth. "The child you carry is slowly draining away your life to allow itself to be born?" he asked as Remus looked ashen but Elizabeth smiled and brought her right hand up to rest on her protruding stomach where the unborn child was.

"She is doing no such thing. But even if she were, I could never bring myself to regret carrying her. My precious Lillian." She said in a loving tone as Severus stood dumb struck for several moments before he heard Elizabeth continue. "We decided to name her after a common friend that we have. Her 'Aunt' Lily." Elizabeth said looking between the two men who were not looking as thrilled as she was about the child she was carrying. So she shook her head. "Remus fought me on this, but it is my choice, Lillian did not choose to be the way she is, and there is still a chance she will not be born to be more like her father with his curse." She said but Remus cut her off.

"Even with that risk, we should have terminated the pregnancy! I do not want to lose you, Elizabeth!" Remus exclaimed as he went to put his hand on her shoulder but Elizabeth moved away from him looking beyond infuriated.

"I will not even consider something like that! Because she is our daughter! Even if she has not been born yet! And as her mother, I would gladly surrender what may be what left of my life so that Lillian can be born and have a chance to live a life other than what that damned prophecy said would be her life!" Elizabeth said as she fought to get up from the couch as she stormed out of the room as Severus could hear her go up the stairs followed by a deafening slam from the door to the room she had gone into upstairs.

The surroundings faded as though they had not been there, but as that happened Severus felt a new hatred for Remus. Because of how he had already gathered that the unborn child that Remus had been ready to abandon even before she had been born was his own daughter. However, Severus did not get to linger on that due to how soon another scene was forming as he found himself once again beside Dumbledore but this time it was in the headmaster's office at Hogwarts. It was late, or early, due to how it was no light out at the moment. Severus stood there, not far from where Dumbledore was sitting at his desk reading over some papers, only for the door to burst open as a frantic Remus came in.

"Elizabeth just gave birth about an hour ago, and the child bears the mark…" he said in a frantic yet worn out tone. Something that told Severus that even in the gap between the two memories, that Remus had not come to accept that even if he did not accept Lillian, that Elizabeth loved the child more than anything and had been willing to go to any lengths to insure that Lillian would be born and have the opportunity to live happily.

"There is nothing that can be done then." Dumbledore said in a grave tone. "Elizabeth has made her decision in regards to the child." He said but Remus shook his head.

"She said…just before I left to come to you…that she knows she does not have much longer due to how carrying one with the curse is killing her and more so since the child was born." Remus said, his voice shaking as Severus felt himself becoming more and more enraged at how Remus was so determined to not have attachment to his own daughter from what he could tell. Though Severus did not get to linger on that as Remus continued speaking. "And she asked that I ask you to help insure that her daughter will be safe." He said as Severus wished that the Remus he was seeing was not just a memory, but the real one so he could punch him.

"What did the two of you have in mind?" Dumbledore asked with a blank look on his face watching the young man before him.

"When…when Elizabeth dies…take her daughter and put her with someone…anyone!" Remus ground out as he was showing signs of being beyond frustrated due to how he did not want anything to do with the child that had made it where he only had a year or a little longer with his wife left since she was all but wasting away right before him.

Dumbledore sat there for several moments as though waiting for Remus to take back what he had just said. "So you will be forfeiting your rights as her father?" Dumbledore asked with a distant look on his face since the young man before him seemed to be ready to cast away his daughter who was only an infant and knew nothing of the cruel world she had been born into.

Remus was still for a few moments and then nodded. "I…I do not think I could stand to even look at Elizabeth's daughter after my love dies…" Remus said in a worn voice as he slumped into the chair before the older wizard's desk. "I will even be sending Levi to live with his mother's parents for a time so as to make sure that he is safe from what I am." Remus said as Severus clenched his hands into fists at his side.

'That damned coward!' Severus thought with pure hatred to himself as he did not understand how Remus could be so cowardly to want to abandon Lily. Though he soon looked back to Dumbledore who spoke.

"Very well. I will take custody of your daughter and place her with the person I see most fit. Though you know that at age thirteen depending on what Lillian wants, you may or may not be allowed back into her life." Dumbledore said almost as though he were trying to convince the younger man to reconsider forfeiting his child. However, Remus would not be persuaded as he shook his head only to stand and turn his back on the older wizard as he spoke in a low cold tone.

"I do not care. As far as I am concerned, she killed my beloved wife, and as such she is dead too the moment that Elizabeth breaths her last…" Remus said as the office faded to nothing as with the first memory. Though it still left Severus feeling more and more enraged. Sure he had at first distanced himself from Lily, but he opened his heart to her, allowed the love only a parent would know to show through. Though with how he had seen how Remus was so willing to abandon Lily, he now understood why Dumbledore had been so keen on her knowing love and acceptance from an early age, because she had been denied that.

Soon another scene materialized, one of a room where Severus was sure was where Remus and Elizabeth had been living, thought he mood was different. Elizabeth was deathly still on the bed, her face paler, almost a grey tint to it. Though her face looked peaceful, as though she had gone in her sleep, though beside the bed was Levi Lupin crying over his dead mother. Remus stood not too far from his son as Lily lay on the bed in a simple dress that was stained with her tears as neither her older brother or father were trying to comfort her but had instead just sat her on the bed and left her to cry.

It was not until Dumbledore stepped forward and scooped up Lily in his arms that she finally got tended to. "I take it now is when you want her to be placed elsewhere?" he asked looking toward the grieving father and son. "And that you will not care who she is placed with?" Dumbledore glanced down at the small year old baby in his arms as he then looked back to Remus who looked furious.

"Just get that out of my sight!" he ground out as Dumbledore sighed and shook his head, as though he thought that Remus was acting merely out of pure grief at losing his wife due to how her health had slowly deteriorated ever since Lillian was born. So without another word when he saw no sign of change in Remus' face, Dumbledore turned and walked out of the room and to the fireplace in the living room where he disappeared into the emerald colored flames with the small child in his arms.

When that memory faded Severus felt a sinking feeling of pure guilt and despair wash over him due to how he had not shown Lily the love she needed sooner. Where it had been almost a full year before he had shown her true love. Since she obviously never received any from Remus, though at that thought, Severus could not help but wonder who must have been taking care of Lily for the year she still lived with her biological family since Elizabeth surely had not been in that great of health and Remus seemed repulsed by his own child. It was as the next memory started to form that he remembered that Dumbledore had placed four memory strands into the pensieve.

The memory took on the shape of the headmaster's office as he was standing before a sobbing house elf who looked as though they had either collapsed or thrown themselves at the headmaster's feet. It was not until he heard the crying of the house elf that he realized it was a female, and that the sobbing sounded familiar. But Severus found himself thinking that there was no way it could be who he was thinking it was as the memory unfolded.

"Master Remus gave Twinkle clothes, saying he had no use for Twinkle!" the elf cried as she looked up revealing hazel colored eyes that were blood shot as she was staring up at Dumbledore, confirming to Severus that it was the same Twinkle who had helped him raise his child.

"Even so, a few moments ago, I gave her to her new father." Dumbledore said looking down at the elf with a sympathetic look but she went into a fresh new wave of hysterics.

"But my Mistress Lillian knows no one but Twinkle who cares. She will be lost without her Twinkle!" the small elf cried only for Dumbledore to kneel down and place his hand on the shoulder of the sobbing elf.

"Twinkle, there is a way for you to serve your mistress." He said in a kind voice as Twinkle calmed slightly as Dumbledore continued. "I will allow you to pass yourself off as a Hogwarts elf sent to be in the service of your mistress' new father. To help him care for her." He said as Twinkle smiled only to look as though she wanted to hug the old wizard before her, even as he stood and waved his wand as an official looking house elf uniform appeared in Twinkle's hands. "Wear that and go to Spinner's End, there you will find your young Mistress." He said with a smile as Twinkle smiled through her tears as she pulled on the uniform only to vanish with a small pop.

As the memory faded, Severus felt himself drifting upward, soon finding himself out of the pensieve as he was standing once more in the headmaster's office, while the older man was behind his desk giving Severus a searching look. After a few moments, Severus found his voice as he spoke softly in a low tone. "So, Remus just abandoned her…?" he asked as he saw out of the corner of his eye that Dumbledore nodded. "So that means that Levi is her older brother by blood, and that Lily is ill because she has the curse of a werewolf?" he asked, his voice shaking.

"Yes, she was born with the mark of one born as a wolf, but she is also human." Dumbledore said his voice also low as his blue eyes held no twinkle in their depths. "Since she was born, the wolf has remained dormant in her, but it seems it no longer wishes to be remain that way. So if she is not given the wolfsbane potion soon, the wolf inside of her will destroy her." He said as Severus turned toward him looking as though he were a mad man.

"Why not just tell me that rather than wasting my time with showing me those memories!" he demanded as he was glaring at the older man thinking of how his daughter was in pain in the hospital wing, and that she may have had another episode in the time that Dumbledore had been wasting with showing him his memories of who Lily's so called biological father was. Something that he understood why he did it, but at the same time, Severus was thinking on if he drew his wand right then how many violent curses he could cast on the headmaster for him wasting time like he had.

"I had to make sure that you would still feel the same for her even after learning the truth of whose child she actually is." Dumbledore said in a calm voice. "That she is the child of one of those who made your life hell." He said showing he knew at least a general of what had once been happening with how James Potter and his friends had once tormented Severus.

"I do not care about any of that! Lily is _mine_! She is innocent of any misdeeds done to me by Remus or his friends." He said as Dumbledore gave him a surprised look before smiling and nodding as Severus turned and rushed from the office to head back down to the dungeons to grab a vial of wolfsbane that he had brewed recently. Once he had it he turned and rushed back up to the hospital wing to find that Lily was looking worse, as there was evidence of her having had another episode. Without any hesitation he rushed over to her and sat on the edge of the bed gathering her up in his arms as she weakly opened her eyes and looked at him as he saw then that they were almost fully overtaken by the amber color.

"D…dad…" Lily spoke weakly as Severus supported her with one arm and rushed to remove the lid from the vial and held it to her lips.

"I need you to drink this, ever drop." He said with an urgent tone as he felt her tense even as she drank it. "I know it tastes awful, but you need to drink all of it." He whispered in a frantic, worried tone as Lily continued to make a face as she drank the vial only for her to slowly relax and be limp in his arms as she fell asleep shortly after drinking the contents of the vial. "Sweet dreams, my precious Lily." Severus whispered as he held Lily close, only to fall asleep sitting on the bed cradling his small daughter in his arms.

**A/N:** I know I updated this one two times in a row, but I felt that I needed to get this chapter written as soon as possible due to how I wanted to show even more of how despite there being no blood relation, Severus loves Lily more than anything. And yes, I know that Remus is a bit out of character, but it is due to him being in pure grief at how he lost his wife. I also want to take a moment to say that I have not abandoned Eternal Star or Blood Oath: Destiny they are in the works as well but are taking a while. Also I want to dedicate this chapter to Toraach who has been following this story since I first put it up (even though it is only a few chapters in).


	6. Christmas

**Christmas**

Severus had been beyond relieved when it was found that he had given Lily the potion in time to suppress the wolf that was inside of her. He found himself vowing that he would find a way to free Lily from the curse that Remus had passed onto her, a curse she should not have to carry because she was so sweet. 'Even with this, I will never abandon her.' Severus thought as he sat on the bed in the hospital wing still cradling Lily in his arms while she slept even though it was well after dawn at this point. He stared down at her perfect angelic face as he found he could no longer imagine or even remember fully his life before she had come into it. "I would not have it any other way…" he whispered as he held her closer only for the distant sound of the door opening to find its way to him as he glanced toward the door to see that it was Dumbledore. Out of a subconscious reaction, Severus held Lily closer as the older wizard approached and sat on the chair beside the bed, his blue eyes holding a bit of their usual twinkle this morning as they took in Severus and Lily over the half-moon spectacles that Dumbledore wore.

"How is she doing this morning?" Dumbledore asked as a worried smile could be seen on his face as his eyes went to Lily who was still sound asleep in her father's arms.

"She drank all of the potion and managed to fall asleep and has been resting." Severus said looking down at the sleeping face of his daughter as a part of him began to plead that she would open her eyes and smile at him the way she always did. "I just wish she would wake so that I could know she was alright." He said in a worried tone as his dark eyes remained on his child.

"If she is still breathing, she will wake soon enough." Dumbledore said as Severus looked up at him with a hate filled glare. "It is the truth, Severus." Dumbledore said in a distant tone looking to the sleeping child. "Though I think once the Christmas holiday is done, Harry will be sent to live with another family for his own safety." He said as Severus gave him a look of shock. "Now that the wolf in Lily is beginning to stir, it is best that they be separated until we can be certain that she will not pose a threat." At this point Severus shifted and laid Lily on the bed and tucked the blanket about her small shoulders, even going so far as to reach out and gently brush a lock of her black hair out of her pale face.

"I do not want our discussion to interrupt her resting." Severus said as he straightened and inclined his head toward the door to the wing as he and Dumbledore headed out of the wing only to close the door behind themselves, Severus stealing one last glance at his daughter before the door closed. At which point he rounded on the headmaster. "Why would you remove Harry from my care because of this? You know Lily would not harm anyone, especially not Harry!" Severus growled in a low tone as he noticed the sparkle that usually resided in the headmasters eyes had faded completely.

"It is already decided. After Christmas, Harry is to be moved to the Burrow to live with the Weasley family." Dumbledore said as Severus looked even more infuriated. "It will be better this way for Harry, and also for you and Lily." Dumbledore said as though hinting that there was no arguing on the matter. "Arthur and Molly have a son the same age as Harry, so he will be better off there so that you can focus solely on Lily for the time being." Dumbledore said in a calm tone as he knew the anger of the young man before him was about to boil over.

"What about what Harry wants?" Severus demanded as he glared at the headmaster in a way that would have made students cringe or run for cover, however the older wizard was completely unaffected by it. "Harry has never once been upset being raised by me along with Lily. You know full well the two of them are always together." Severus said as it was becoming more and more like a plea for Dumbledore to not take Harry away from him because of how he had moved past his hatred for Harry's father and treasured the boy like he treasured his little Lily.

"He will come to like living with the Weasley's." Dumbledore said disregarding what Severus was saying. "I have my reasons, which is why the day after Christmas, Harry will be sent to live with the Weasley's until he comes of age." The older wizard said before he turned and walked away, leaving no room for Severus to try and challenge the decision.

Feeling defeated, Severus turned and went back to the door that led to the Hospital Wing and opened the door before heading across the room to where Lily was, not noticing the pair of bright blue eyes watching him as he approached, or even as he sank into the chair facing the bed. Not until a small voice called to him. "Dad? What's the matter?" the small voice asked as he looked up to see that Lily was awake, resulting in a wave of immediate relief flooding over him as he stood and moved to the bed gathering Lily up in his arms as she hugged him in return but her hug was lax, hinting that she was not fully recovered from the night before. At the thought that Lily would be one to suffer through this curse and then losing one he had been gradually starting to view as a son overwhelmed Severus as he held Lily closer only for her small voice to ring in his ear again. "Dad…you are squishing me…" Leading to Severus quickly loosening his hold on his daughter as he looked at her, sadness reigning in his eyes. Though as his dark eyes met the bright blue he found he could not say what he had just been told.

"It…it is nothing." Severus choked out after a second before shaking his head. "I will go talk to Madame Pomfrey to see if it is alright for me to take you home, since I am sure Harry and Twinkle are both anxious to see that you are alright." He said as he put Lily back on the bed as he went to walk away only to hear the small voice once again, saying something that tugged at his heartstrings so much that he was near in actual physical pain.

"I am sorry for worrying you, dad. I'll try to not worry you so much anymore…"

/

Later on that day Severus got to take Lily to their rooms in the dungeons of the school, he knew that today was the twenty third, meaning that he would only have Harry just over a month before he was taken away. So Severus opted to go home so that Harry and Lily could spend one last Christmas together at home before being separated until they started school. The time flew by until it was time for them to leave along with the students shortly before Christmas. Though while Severus had been inside packing, Harry and Lily had gone down to Hagrid's to visit with the half giant groundskeeper. So it was in complete silence that Severus was gathering all of Harry's belongings and packing them away since the boy would not be returning with Severus and Lily after the holiday. Something that Severus had only told Twinkle since she was at the house the small family lived in packing Harry's belongings there and also prepping the house for them since they had not been there in a while.

Not long after Severus had finished packing and sent the bags to the house by use of a spell, he heard a knock coming from the door at the entrance to his quarters. 'Must be Hagrid.' He thought to himself as he went to the door and opened it before sliding the portrait aside to see Hagrid in the corridor looking oddly large compared to the stone walls and ceiling.

"Thought yeh would want them back." Hagrid said in a gruff voice as Severus could tell he was smiling, as his shaggy hair and beard were caked in half melted snow, and in his arms were Harry and Lily sound asleep meaning they had played until they completely wore themselves out.

"Thank you, Hagrid." Severus said as he took Lily first and carried her over to the couch then he came back over and got Harry. "Though we are about to head out so I was just about to lock up my quarters." He said in a way dismissing the groundskeeper who took the hint and nodded before heading back up the corridor as Severus shut the portrait only to do a charm on it to insure it would stay closed until he returned as he even locked the door behind it out of habit since he did not care for the thought of anyone trying to get into his personal quarters. Once he was done he walked over to the couch and gently shook Harry and Lily until they woke as he told them it was time to go as they were traveling by floo powder.

Once they stepped out of the fireplace into the small house, Severus felt his right eye twitch ever so slightly. 'How can _one_ elf do this much damage to this house!?' he thought to himself as he felt Harry and Lily move away from him to go see the decorations up close. There was tinsel hanging from the ceiling, a large tree decorated to rival the trees used to decorate around the great hall at Hogwarts. After a second, Severus dared to turn around to glance at the fireplace only to see that tinsel was hanging with mini reefs where it angled up. "Twinkle!" Severus called as there was a small pop signaling the small elf had appeared by him. "I said to do some decorating, not to rival the decorations at Hogwarts!" he said in a weary tone almost afraid to see the rest of the house.

"But Twinkle is not done yet, Master Severus." She said as Severus looked down at her with a look of horror on his face. "Twinkle still has young Master Harry and Mistress Lily's rooms to decorate." The elf said with a smile spreading across her face as Severus felt like someone had dumped cold water over him.

"You did not do anything to my room, correct?" Severus asked with a slight hint of worry and horror in his voice as he spoke looking down at the house elf before him who was still smiling. Something that made him worry anew until Twinkle shook her head to show she had not violated his room the way she had the living room…and possibly every other room in the house with her obsessive decorating. 'Note to self, never let her handle decorating for the holidays again!' Severus thought to himself as Twinkle spoke.

"Twinkle did not decorate the master's room. Twinkle just cleaned so it would be ready for Master Severus." She said as Severus let out a sigh of relief. Mainly because he did not mind the house being like this…to an extent, but he drew the line at his room. His one sanctuary in this house.

"Good." Was all Severus could manage to say as he caught sight of Lily and Harry who were both running around the house beyond fascinated with the decorations around the room. "Go get situated in your rooms." Severus said as he knew this would not be the case anymore because of how after Christmas, Harry would be taken away. Though he was keeping that from Lily and Harry at the moment thinking it was better that they just remain happy for a bit longer.

/

The days flew by, even more so when on the eve of the twenty second, Severus gave Lily the wolfsbane potion even though she protested the entire time saying it tasted icky and gross. He had truly felt bad for making her take it, but he could not help but smile slightly at the faces she was making while downing the potion. However, even with the potion, the following day she was extremely pale and weak so Severus had tried to make her rest but instead she had wanted to be carried down to the living room and sit right beside him with Harry on the other side begging Severus to tell them a story. So he had gotten out a book that Twinkle had once picked up, Grimm Fairytales. Something Severus could not understand fully, but he stomached it because it made Harry and Lily happy.

All too soon for Severus, it was Christmas Eve and he was putting both Lily and Harry to bed. The boy had been easy enough to put to bed, but Lily was insistent that Severus stay with her until she fell asleep to help her figure out how the presents always appeared. And while Severus was happy that Lily was so curious and keeping awake would help insure that they would have more time with Harry since the time moved so fast when one was asleep, he soon convinced Lily to go to sleep after several attempts. Promising to not be grouchy when the inevitable happened. For the last three years every Christmas or birthday morning Harry and Lily would come charging into his room and jump up and down on his bed until he woke up and then proceed to pull and push him from bed until he got up.

Thinking on that as he stood from the chair beside Lily's bed he saw she was already sound asleep with a peaceful smile on her face as he could not help but wonder if things would continue as they were once Harry was taken from them. 'I will do everything I can to insure her smile does not fade.' Severus thought as he walked down to the kitchen where Twinkle was cleaning up to let her know what to fix for breakfast the next morning before he went back upstairs to his room and sat up for a while thinking of how the house and even the quarters at Hogwarts would soon feel slightly empty without Harry there. 'I hope Lily will not be too lonely without Harry…' he thought to himself as he removed his sweater he had been wearing and his pants before pulling on black pajama bottoms before getting situated on his bed staring up at the ceiling for so long. 'Lil…' he thought to himself thinking of Lily Evans.

'Had I not made the worst mistake of my life by calling you that horrible word…could it have turned out with us being together? Where you would have been safe and still alive by my side? Possibly with us raising our own children?' he thought to himself as he knew he would not trade his Lily for anything, but he found himself wondering if it was actually a bad thing that she never knew the love of a mother. Though with that thought, Severus slowly drifted off to sleep.

/

Severus was sleeping peacefully for what felt like only a few minutes before he was awoken by his bed jolting around as he groaned into his pillow knowing what it was. It was Christmas morning and it was time for him to get up according to his daughter and Harry. However as he opened his eyes he heard a small alarm go off from downstairs as he was up out of bed in half a second since that meant someone was trying to come through the wards without permission. "Twinkle!" he called as he only vaguely noticed that Lily and Harry were now knelt on the bed looking at him with confusion evident in their wide eyes. While Severus was grabbing his wand form his nightstand there was a pop signaling the arrival of the house elf. "Stay with Harry and Lily and should something happen, get them out of here back to Hogwarts." He ordered as he saw the elf nod from the corner of his eye as he rushed out of the room, his wand held before him ready as he locked his door behind himself figuring if nothing else it would slow anyone down long enough for Twinkle to flee with the kids.

He slowly descended the stairs as he headed to the living room only to see after a second that the alarm was from the floo network. 'Who would be trying to come through?' he thought to himself as he walked over closer to the fireplace and mutter a simple spell to allow whoever was coming through to be seen. 'Narcissa?' Severus thought to himself as he opened the network completely only for the wife of Lucius Malfoy to step out followed by a young boy with sleeked back unnaturally blonde hair and steel blue eyes. Though Severus looked to Narcissa to see that she had not changed much in the few years since he had last seen her, she still had long blonde hair, and had an air about her of superiority. "Narcissa." Severus spoke in greeting though his voice was weary due to how the Malfoy's were a family that believed more than any other besides the Black family in what Voldemort had once been doing before he was defeated.

"Ah, Severus." Narcissa said as she finished brushing soot from her black traveling cloak as she gave him a somewhat welcoming look before looking down to her son as she saw that he was busy brushing himself off. "So sorry to drop by unannounced." She said in a way that seemed a bit unlike the Narcissa that Severus remembered, even more so when she continued. "I figured it was best that my son spend time away from the manor for today, more so since his father has been one to try and pressure him when he is only a child." She said showing that despite how she had once been, she was a mother first and foremost.

"It is no problem, but I must ask that you wait here since I have two children of my own to attend to." He said casually before he went to turn away to head up the stairs as he stopped. "Twinkle!" he called as the small house elf appeared beside him doing a curtsy. "Prepare tea for our guests, and breakfast for Lily and Harry, along with some coffee for myself." He said as Twinkle nodded only to vanish again to the kitchen to start with the breakfast and drinks for Severus and their guests. With that Severus went back up the stairs to his room to find Harry and Lily sitting close, both staring intently at the door when he entered. "Go get dressed, we have company." He said as both children slid off of his bed and ran toward the door. Though as he watched Harry go into his room he felt a small hand tug on his own that was down at his side. He glanced down to see Lily there looking up at him. "What is wrong?" he asked as Lily shook her head.

"This is the last Christmas…isn't it?" She asked as Severus felt a tug at his heart due to how he had been doing his best to keep the truth from his daughter. Though from the look on her face, he could tell that she did already suspect something.

"No need to worry about anything like that." He said as he knelt down resting his other hand on her head. "Even if it does go back to being just the two of us, you know that you will never be alone because you have me and of course Twinkle who lives to see you smile." Severus said with a smile to try and assure Lily that everything would be alright. Something that she seemed to accept fairly easy as she nodded at her dad and smiled a little as he messed her black hair a little before removing his hand as she giggled. "Now go get dressed." He said as Lily ran into her room and shut the door so that she could get dressed. 'I hate lying to her…' he said as he knew full well that things would not be the same after Harry was taken away.

Pushing that thought from his mind, Severus went into his room and grabbed a change of clothes and got changed into a Slytherin green sweater and black pants before he walked out of his room only to find that Lily and Harry were both still in their rooms so he stood there waiting for the few minutes until they both came out of their rooms. Harry was now wearing a red sweater he had picked out and blue jeans. Lily on the other hand was wearing a royal blue sweater and light blue jeans and her black hair was down but the front tucked behind her ears to help keep it from falling in her pale face.

Severus walked over and messed Harry's hair slightly as he found it hard to believe that he was wishing today would drag on so that Harry would not be taken away, but he banished that thought from his mind. "Come, we have guests." He said letting his hand fall from Harry's head only to turn and head down the hall only to feel one of the kids catch his hand, glancing down he saw that it was Lily as he could not help but smile at her. They headed down the stairs with Harry following behind them only to find Narcissa and her son sitting drinking tea that had been placed on the small table between the couch and the fireplace as to the side there were two plates with eggs toast and bacon along with small glasses of orange juice for Harry and Lily. Not too far from the breakfast was a mug of coffee for Severus, something he picked up as he sat down in the arm chair while his daughter and Harry started eating their breakfast. "So, what is the real reason behind this visit?" Severus asked as he kept an eye on the boy that was with Narcissa due to how he was staring at Lily. 'If the boy is anything like his father I will not tolerate him being anywhere near Lily…' Severus thought as he watched Narcissa as she seemed to struggle with words for a brief second.

"I…I just thought it was best that I get Draco away from his father due to how things are going at the moment." Narcissa said as she glanced toward her son and smiled as the boy, Draco, smiled back at his mother before she had looked back to Severus and continued to speak. "I know that we were both raised to believe pure bloods are the only ones who should possess magic and be allowed to really matter, but I think it would be better if my son not be exposed to that but rather be allowed to make his own choices." She said as Severus inclined his head in a faint nod. "So I thought that it would be best that Draco be allowed to meet a family that seems to embody that." She said as Severus narrowed his eyes in a dangerous manner. "I mean nothing against it, just with how you are raising your daughter knowing nothing of her lineage, a sign of true love." Narcissa said as she looked toward Lily with a gentle expression as Lily looked toward her and smiled shyly.

"That is because I do not care about what lineage she has, because she is my child even if she had been born to muggle parents." Severus admitted as he reached out and rested a hand on Lily's head before noticing Narcissa give him a surprised look. "Though I will be the first to admit that I do not care for muggles, but even with that, Lily is my treasure." He said only for Lily to laugh a little as Severus allowed his hand to move away from her head.

"And that is the type of thinking I am hoping to instill in Draco." Narcissa admitted once she had seen that Severus was genuine in what he had said to her. "Because I know that his father and I made some bad choices, but I am hoping that he can lead a life without repeating our mistakes." She said as Severus nodded at her only to watch as Draco moved from where he was by his mother and walk over closer to Lily and Harry.

"May I sit with you?" he asked showing that he was a very well mannered.

Lily and Harry both looked up at Draco as he spoke as Harry seemed to hesitate but Lily on the other hand smiled sweetly at Draco. "Of course you can." She said as she scooted over closer to Harry to make more room for Draco where they were sitting on the floor around the table. "My name is Lily, and this is Harry." Lily said as Draco smiled slightly at the kindness that seemed to radiate from Lily as she smiled at him.

"I am Draco Malfoy." Draco said as he sat down on the other side of Lily as the look on his face towards Lily made Severus a little uneasy. All due to how he had a feeling that in that moment the seeds of various feelings had been planted in the blonde haired boy. Something he was sure had also happened when Lily had first extended her hand to Harry when they had only been five years old.

Though after breakfast was done, Twinkle came back in and cleared the dishes only to disappear back into the kitchen as Severus walked over to the tree and knelt down as Narcissa called Draco back over to her while Harry and Lily moved over closer to Severus so they could open presents. However when Lily noticed the sad look on Draco's face she grabbed one of her own presents and walked over to him and held it out smiling at him. "Happy Christmas." She said as she continued to smile at Draco even though he was giving her a shocked look even as he accepted the gift with shaking hands as he stuttered a thank you before Lily went back over to her father and Harry.

When he had watched the exchange, Severus could not help but wonder to himself how it was even with him knowing the truth of the past Lily had before she had come into his life, that she was able to remain so pure of heart. Shaking his head as Lily had come back over he handed Harry a heavy package that was from Hagrid. Treacle fudge and what looked like odd colored rocks along with a card. "You might want to be cautious when you eat that…" Severus cautioned as Harry laughed and nodded at him. There had been a matching package for Lily, then books from Minerva McGonagall that were more geared towards children. Then there was the presents from Dumbledore, something that sent Severus through the roof with anger. For Harry a child size broom that of course could not go as high as an actual broom nor as fast. Then for Lily a quill and parchment with a charm on the quill to record her thoughts or her words. He was not as upset by Lily's gift, just Harry's. The boy was already reckless enough without adding a broom!

Once all of the gifts were open, including a hand-made picture frame with a magical picture of Harry, Severus and Lily with the occupants all smiling and moving around playing together, which had been a combined gift from Harry and Lily. Though Severus suspected that either Minerva or Dumbledore had helped with getting the picture when Severus had not been paying attention, but even with that as a possibility, Severus found he would not trade this gift for anything.

He was just about to go upstairs to get Lily's final gift for her when there was a tapping on the kitchen window followed by Twinkle calling for him saying it was an owl with a message for him. "Can you keep an eye on them?" Severus asked Narcissa as she nodded only for Lily and Harry to rush over and encourage Draco to open the gift that Lily had given him. It was during this that Severus took his leave to go to the kitchen where the owl was sitting on the back of one of the chairs with a letter tied to its leg. Severus gave it a questioning look before going over and taking the letter as the owl took off out the window as Twinkle scrambled to close it so to not let a draft in. However Severus was occupied with the contents of the letter that he had just opened.

_Severus,_

_I have spoken to Arthur and Molly about when they want to take Harry. They said they will be by your house this afternoon around 3p.m. to pick him up. Please have Harry ready to go so that they can take him and be on their way since they are wishing to have him settled by this evening into his new home._

_Albus Dumbledore_

"Master?" Twinkle asked hesitantly due to how Severus looked like he was near seething with rage as he read the letter, even more so when he clenched the letter in his hand and looked toward the clock to see that it was nine. Meaning that Harry would only be with them for another six hours.

"Twinkle, go start preparing Harry's things in his room because he will be leaving at three o'clock this afternoon." Severus said in a low tone before he turned and walked out of the kitchen leaving a sad and confused house elf behind him. More so because he and Twinkle had been under the impression that Harry would not be leaving until the following morning, something that was obviously not the case. Once he returned to the living room he saw that the gift that Lily had given to Draco was a new chess board from an unknown sender.

He settled down to enjoy a good visit with Narcissa while Harry, Lily and Draco played in the living room with their new gifts. Harry begged to be allowed to go outside so they could test his broom but Severus had turned that down due to how it was snowing outside and it was hard to see very far and he did not wish for Harry to get hurt. Around noon, Twinkle brought out turkey sandwiches for a light lunch along with warm tea and hot cocoa for everyone. Once everyone had ate their fill, Severus relented and allowed Harry and Lily to go outside, as Narcissa also granted Draco permission so that they could have a snow ball fight. Something that Draco was not as familiar with, but that did not stop the three children from having fun. They kept going until Severus and Narcissa called to them saying it was time to come in as Severus noticed the time, it was five before three.

"Narcissa, is it alright if you wait in the other room or leave for a little bit?" he asked as Narcissa gave him a confused look but she opted to wait in the sitting room not too far from the living room. Once she stepped out of the room with her son, Severus took out his wand and muttered a small charm that dried Harry and Lily off instantly as Twinkle appeared in the room with Harry's bags.

"Dad, why does Twinkle have Harry's stuff?" Lily asked as both her and Harry looked at Severus in confusion as the flames in the fireplace turned green only for two people to step out one after the other. The first was a tall man with red hair that was thinning on the top with horn rimmed glasses balanced on his nose hiding just a few of the many freckles on his face. He was wearing a worn looking green cloak as he smiled at the people before him as a woman stepped out behind him. She was a bit shorter with a more homely look to her with red hair just like the man. She looked very kind and warm hearted as she smiled toward mainly Harry and Lily. However this was not a time that Lily returned the smile as she and Harry moved closer to one another as they both looked up at Severus searching for an answer. "Dad?" Lily asked again as the man walked over and gathered up the bags.

"This everything, Severus?" he asked as Severus nodded while the woman walked over and leaned down slightly as she smiled at the children but they refused to be separated.

"Hello, Harry." She said as she held out a hand to him. "We need to get going so that we can get you settled before dinner with everyone." She said as Lily shook her head and spoke what both she and Harry were thinking.

"Settled? But he lives here with me and dad!" she said only for the woman to give her a sad look as Severus leaned down and forced Lily and Harry away from one another.

"Lily!" Harry yelled but the woman caught his hand before he could move closer to Severus who was holding back a struggling Lily. "No! I want to stay here! I want to stay with Severus and Lily!" Harry said as the woman steered him toward the fireplace as her husband went through first.

"You will see her again when the both of you start at Hogwarts in few years." The woman said as she tossed in some floo powder and stepped in with Harry who looked toward Lily with sadness evident in his eyes before he vanished along with the lady.

"Harry! HARRY!" Lily cried as Severus knelt only to turn her and pull her close as she sobbed into his shoulder. "H-Harry…" she sobbed in a shaking voice as Severus wished there was something he could do, but there was not anything he could do. He knew that the adoption of Harry to the Weasley family was finalized.

"Lily…" Severus whispered as he held her close holding back his own feelings due to how he was wishing to remain strong for her. "It will be alright…" he whispered slowly calming his daughter as he heard footsteps approaching and a hand on his shoulder. He leaned back from his daughter slightly and looked up to see that it was Narcissa.

"What happened? Why did the Weasley's take your son?" she asked even though she knew full well that the boy had been Harry Potter. She was sure from the way Severus treated the boy and how he was obviously torn apart at the moment that he cared for him as though he were his own, the same way he cared for the small girl in his arms.

After a few seconds of silence Severus shifted and stood holding Lily in his arms as she continue to softly cry into his shoulder. "Due to some things, the headmaster of Hogwarts determined that it was in Harry's best interest to be placed with the Weasley's." he said as he felt Lily shake her head against his shoulder. He glanced to Narcissa's to see that she looked like she was about to ask what could have led to such a rash decision but Severus shook his head. "I would rather not say…" he said as he walked over to the couch only to sit down still cradling Lily to himself as she continued to softly cry.

Narcissa and Draco stayed for dinner that night as even though they had only just met Lily, they both aimed to try and help the smile return to her face but it was no use. She was heartbroken that Harry had been taken away from her the way he had, more so when she asked if she could go visit Harry and Severus said no. Justifying it as at the moment that it was better for some distance to allow Harry time to adjust, that and he was sure if he took Lily to see Harry that he would kidnap the boy to have him back.

After dinner, Narcissa and Draco used the Floo network to return home, saying they would visit again in the next few days. Severus took Lily to her room but she refused to be left alone, so he admitted defeat and carried her to his room and sat her down on the bed, calling Twinkle to fetch one of Lily's night gowns, something the house elf did quickly as Severus left Lily alone with Twinkle to get changed into her pink night gown that was sleeveless and went down to her ankles. When he came back into the room he saw that Lily was sitting on the bed, her knees drawn up with her arms wrapped around them as she did not even acknowledge that he had come back into the room.

"Lily…" Severus whispered as he sat down on the side of the bed as she did not acknowledge him. "There is one last gift for me to give you." He said as she still did not respond bringing a sigh from Severus as he reached out pulling her closer. Once she was beside him he gently got her out of the little ball she had curled into and got her to look at him, showing that in her bright blue eyes, that they were dull and full of tears. "Will you accept the gift I have not given yet?" he asked in a gentle voice as Lily hesitated but nodded.

Severus moved over to the nightstand beside his bed and opened the door in the front only to pull out a long narrow box wrapped in sparkling red and green paper with a curly bow on top. He moved back over to where he had been as he sat down and held out the box to Lily. "Happy Christmas, Lily." He said as he smiled sadly at her as she accepted the box and removed the paper and bow before lifting the lid of it to reveal a silver looking chain with a crescent moon of matching material hanging from it. "It is white gold." Severus said as Lily stared at it. "It is also charmed so that when you wear it, it will help protect you." He said as he smiled at her as Lily looked toward him, the usual light in her eyes not showing but she smiled.

"Thank you, Dad." She said as she hugged him. "Is it okay if I wear it now?" she asked as Severus smiled at her reaching out and lifting the pendant from the box and placing it around her neck as it came to rest against her pink night gown.

"Promise me you will always wear it." He asked as Lily nodded and spoke her promise to him. He then went to get situated as he felt Lily curl up beside him. He reached out wrapping an arm around her to hold her close as she fell asleep as he looked to the side noticing the picture he had received from Harry and Lily sitting on the night stand, meaning Twinkle had brought it up from the living room. However as he looked at it, he noticed that one occupant was gone…Harry. Without hesitation Severus reached out and angled the picture down toward the night stand not wishing to be reminded further of the fact that the boy he had raised as his own son for three years had been ripped away leaving a hole in the family he had with his daughter. Once he moved his hand away from the frame he looked back toward the sleeping child he held close. 'It may just be the two of us now, but I will do everything in my power to bring back your smile.' Severus vowed to himself as he drifted off to sleep.

**A/N:** Well this chapter was a bit tricky due to how I was not sure if I overdid it with when Harry was taken away to live with the Weasley's. That and I do realize that Narcissa is a bit out of character, but I am writing her that way due to how I wanted to interpret her more as a caring mother than someone who looks down on everyone like her husband does. I hope everyone who is reading this story enjoyed this chapter, and I want to say a special thanks to Toraach for reviewing every chapter of this story so far. I hope to have the next chapter up soon.


	7. A New Friend

**A New Friend**

The rest of the Christmas holiday had dragged on for what felt like an eternity to Severus. All due to how no matter what he tried, he could not get Lily to smile the way she had before since she was still upset that Harry had been taken away from them. Where every time she saw any pictures that had been of her and Harry or all three of them, she teared up, prompting Severus to put them away and even ordering Twinkle to pack away those pictures before they returned to their quarters at Hogwarts. He could tell however that Lily was trying to cheer up because Narcissa did bring Draco by as often as she could until the end of the holiday since Severus and Lily were returning to Hogwarts and would be unable to visit with Narcissa or Draco until the summer holiday. During the last visit, Draco had promised Lily that he would write her often and asked for her to please cheer up as there had been a hint of something in the boy's tone hinting that he had grown to care for Lily and wished for her to smile again without tearing up.

Shortly after returning to Hogwarts, Severus had gone to Dumbledore which had led to a disaster. All due to how Severus had said he wished for Dumbledore to allow Harry and Lily to remain in contact, but Dumbledore had flat out refused saying that he knew now it had been a mistake to place Harry in Severus' care, something that set Severus more than it should have, had he not grown to care for the boy in the few years he had raised him as his own son along with his daughter.

"A _mistake_?!" Severus had asked in a furious low tone. "You are setting that boy up to have severe problems with how you ripped him away from his home the way you did! First he lost his parents at a young age due to his own godfather having betrayed them. Oh and let's top it with how you placed him with his relatives who abused him!" Severus had been near the point of shouting at this point due to how he was so angry.

"I know what I am doing, Severus!" Dumbledore had said as he stood from behind his desk, the twinkle completely gone from his eyes. "It is alright for Lily to stay with you, but Harry needed a more suitable home than the one that you were providing for him."

Just thinking on that discussion made Severus furious because of how that had been the first day after he had returned to Hogwarts with Lily and she had been sitting in the living room waiting and hopeful that they would be allowed to see Harry or at least write to him. He had barely had the heart to tell Lily that she would not be allowed to do so, something that led to Lily crying at the smallest thing as Severus stopped eating in the Great Hall due to how Lily refused to leave their quarters in the dungeons. He found her becoming more and more withdrawn as he became desperate to give her a friend, but he knew that he could not ask Narcissa to bring Draco. So who could he ask to be a friend to his daughter? It was not until a day when he had been walking down the corridor only to spot one of his more clumsy students. A Hufflepuff fifth year by the name of Nymphadora Tonks.

'It would be worth a try…' Severus thought to himself as he stalked toward the lone Hufflepuff. "Miss Tonks." He said addressing her as she seemed to freeze for a second before looking back over her shoulder at him as he noticed as he got closer that the girl seemed to be favoring the odd hair color of pink today. 'Why does she always seem to favor that color?' Severus thought to himself as he stopped walking not far from the eccentric fifth year.

"What can I help you with, Professor?" Tonks as she looked toward him, a nervous look on her face since Severus had been in a bit of a foul mood since school had resumed after the Christmas holiday.

"Come with me." Severus said, knowing that the Hufflepuff did not have any classes at the moment, more so since she had been on her way to the library to possibly study for her upcoming O.W.L. exams that were fast approaching at the end of the term.

"But, I need to go and study, sir." She said rushing to remember to address the Potions Master in a way so that he did not start taking points from her house due to how she had been caught goofing around by him just a few days before and he had deducted ten points for every minute she was in his sight for a total of forty points.

"Do I need to start taking points again, Miss Tonks?" Severus asked glaring toward the student who gave him a defeated look and shook her head after a moment. "I thought not, now come." He said turning and walking away with the defeated Hufflepuff following behind him as they headed down to the dungeons to the potions classroom as Severus held the door open for Tonks to walk in before following and closing the door. "Sit down." He ordered as she sat on one of the stools toward the front of the room.

"Um…what is this about, Professor?" Tonks's asked as Severus walked around in front of her and looked down at her with his cold dark eyes seeming to be contemplating something.

"I am needing someone to help my daughter." Severus said as Tonks's face shifted to one of surprise. Though before Tonks's could speak, Severus continued. "She is without anyone she can talk with and has been refusing to socialize with anyone besides me and a house elf that takes care of her while I am teaching, so I was wanting you to be the one to help get her to see it is alright to do so again." Severus said as Tonks gave him a skeptical look.

"Why do you want me to do that, I thought she had Harry to keep her company." Tonks said as Severus glared to the point that the Hufflepuff before him scooted the stool she was on back a few inches to try and escape the harsh gaze. "I-I take it do not mention him?" Tonks asked nervously as Severus nodded. "Though you do realize that I am busy studying for my upcoming exams, so maybe it would be better if you had someone else do this?" Tonks asked as Severus shook his head.

"My daughter needs someone she can look up to, and right now you fit the qualifications for that." Severus said as in truth he was unsure if having this one particular student around his daughter was a good idea, but he was running out of choices due to how Lily was becoming more and more withdrawn by the day. "So go and study and then after dinner I will bring my daughter here and you are to come down and spend at least an hour with her." Severus said figuring to at least do a trial in his presence to be sure that Tonks was up to the task of visiting with Lily and behaving. He walked over to his desk and got out a scrap of parchment and wrote a simple note to be sure if anyone questioned Tonks on why she was out in the corridors instead of in her house common room, that she would not be held up. "Now go." He said thrusting the parchment into Tonks' hands as she scrambled to her feet and grabbed her bag only to stumble on her way out due to her tripping over the hem of her robe for a second before rushing from the room.

Severus had finished his remaining classes for the day and made his way to his quarters to find Lily curled up on the couch sound asleep with a book laying on the floor before the couch with her small hand extended down toward it. Severus smiled sadly as he walked over and picked up the book only to realize it was an album that contained pictures from before, only thing was that one occupant had left the pictures. Glancing toward his daughter he noticed the trails on her face from tears she had been crying as he shut the book and left her there resting and took the album to his room. 'I thought Twinkle and I had gotten all of them…' he thought to himself before he realized something. 'Lily did not want this put away and hid it in her room before Twinkle or I could find it…' he thought to himself with a pang of sadness as he knew that it would be even harder to get Lily to fully accept that Harry was not going to be returning to their family.

He went to his room carrying the album as he opened the door on the bedside table and placed the album inside before shutting and as an extra precaution he cast a small spell on it so that Lily would not be able to find it. He had been about to turn to go back to the living room when he heard a small voice from behind him.

"Dad?" the soft voice spoke as he looked back over his shoulder to see Lily standing there, her jeans and matching sweater wrinkled a little from how she had been sleeping on the couch.

"What is it, Lily?" he asked with a soft smile toward her as he watched her yawn showing she was still slowly waking up.

"Where did my book go? I was reading it only to find it gone when I woke up from my nap." Lily said not knowing that her father knew full well that she had not been reading a book but looking through an album she had managed to keep her father and Twinkle from finding.

Severus sighed ever so slightly. "Lily, I know you snuck an album to your room and hid it and that you were looking at it before you fell asleep." He said as Lily gave him a sad look at how he had found out that she had been looking at the pictures from before. "You are not in trouble, Lily." He said gently as he walked over and knelt down before Lily pulling her into a firm but gentle hug. "I just wanted to not see you upset since there is no way we can get him back at the moment." He said as he continued to hug her. "Though I have a surprise for you." He said as Lily shifted to lean back so she could look up at her father.

"What is the surprise?" Lily asked but Severus merely smiled at his daughter.

"It will be revealed after dinner." He said as he was hoping this would work since he felt Lily needed someone to talk to, but sadly everyone in the school was at least a few years to a few decades older than her.

/

After dinner Severus took Lily from their quarters, leaving Twinkle to tend to cleaning up their small dinner. Once they got to the potions room he opened the door as Lily walked in being near timid as she walked over to one of her favorite spots that was right in front of her father's desk as she climbed up on the stool and sat there glancing around with a near nervous look on her face. The minutes ticked by as Severus started to wonder if Miss Tonks was flaking on what he said he wanted her to come and do only for there to be a knock on the door. Severus moved away from where he had been near Lily as he went to the door, feeling the soft blue eyes watching him as he went to the door and opened the door to reveal the pink haired Tonks in the doorway. "Come in." he said shortly as he stepped to the side allowing a nervous Tonks to come in.

For several moments Tonks stood by the door staring across the room at the small child that was seated near the front of the classroom, looking almost every bit the daughter of the potions master, except how her eyes held no coldness in them, but were curious. "So, now what, Professor?" Tonks asked tearing her eyes away from Lily to look up at the potions master.

"You do as I said. Visit with her." He said holding out his arm as Lily slid off of the stool she had been sitting on and walked over as it was obvious that she was timid about doing so. "Lily, this is Miss Tonks." He said as he brought his hand down to Lily's shoulder as she stayed close to him.

"The one who blew up the potion in class shortly after term started?" Lily asked looking up at her father missing the nervous look that Tonks had on her face at hearing that the child remembered something like that.

However Severus laughed a little at how good his daughter's memory was. "Yes." Severus said as he smiled down at Lily noticing how Tonks looked as though she thought the apocalypse was going to happen because the sullen potions master had smiled. "Though I have some papers to grade, so I asked Miss Tonks to keep you company since you need interaction with more than me and Twinkle." He said as in truth he wished she could interact with children her own age but he knew that was not a possibility at least until the summer holiday. "So can you be a good girl and not cause to much trouble?" Severus asked with a smile still on his face as he knelt down beside Lily as she turned to face him as she nodded. "That's my girl." He said still smiling but when he saw that she was not returning it, his smile fell slightly. "Can you smile for me?" he asked as in truth not seeing his daughter smile was making his heart ache. For all he wanted in the world was for Lily to know nothing but peace and happiness.

During the exchange Tonks had stood to the side watching in shock until she saw how the girl was not one to smile much, something even she had noticed in the short time since the return from Christmas holiday. So in an effort to help, Tonks knelt down. "Come on, you should be happy and smiling. Or do I need to use my secret power to make you smile?" she asked as Lily looked toward her with confusion. However when Tonks saw no sign of a smile she focused for a brief moment as her hair turned bright yellow and her nose and lips changed to that to resemble a duck beak. "Quack!" Tonks exclaimed as Severus was just about to ask if the girl was mentally ill until he heard a soft sound, something that sounded foreign to him.

Lily had started to laugh a bit as a smile had returned to her face. She could not help it because of how seeing her laugh Tonks had crossed her eyes and quacked once again sending Lily into a fit of fresh laughter. Something that made Severus believe he had the right decision to pick Tonks to be one to be around Lily unsupervised.

"Just stay in this room." Severus said as he stood as Tonks changed her mouth and nose back to normal and spoke showing that she understood. "And should either of you need anything, just call for Twinkle and she will see to any needs the two of you have." Severus said taking his leave to go into a small office just off of the classroom to do as he had said he needed to, grade some essays that he planned to return the following day to the sixth year students.

However once Severus had left the room, Tonks looked back at Lily to see curiosity was there as she was unsure what to do. She had no younger siblings so she did not have the faintest idea of how to keep a child occupied and she was sure doing her animal impressions with her ability would only keep Lily occupied for so long before she got bored or upset. "So, what do you like to do for fun, Lily?" Tonks asked after a moment as Lily got a thoughtful look on her face before smiling and answering.

"I like reading, but dad said he wants me to lay off of reading for a while." Lily said as Tonks had a look of hope on her face then of defeat. All due to how the one thing she could have done to insure Lily did not get bored or anything had been shot down by her guardian. "Though what do you like to do?" Lily asked staring at Tonks.

The question had caught Tonks off guard for a moment as she reached up rubbing the back of her head thinking for a second. "I usually like messing with people with my ability that lets me change my appearance at will for others amusement." She admitted as Lily smiled ever so slightly as Tonks felt a rush of relief as she thought for a moment to see if there was anything else she enjoyed that maybe could be of amusement to the daughter of the potions master. "That or studying seems to be all that I do anymore because of how I have exams in a few months." Tonks said as Lily looked at her in confusion but Tonks continued speaking. "Because this year is my O.W.L. exams." She said as Lily nodded in understanding. As the hour continued Tonks found herself relaxing more and more around Lily as she found that she was just a lonely child in need of guidance in some things. Mainly because of how Lily was being raised by her single father with no mother figure to look up to. Something that actually was a sad thing to Tonks because she had both parents and did not always get along with them. And yet this young child was one who never knew what it was to have the love of a mother.

It seemed that as soon as Lily started trying to stifle her yawns, the door leading to the office off of the classroom opened only for Severus to come in and easily pick up Lily who rested against him already drifting off to sleep in his arms as he looked down at Tonks. "Thank you for spending time with her, Miss Tonks." Severus said as his student shook her head and smiled at him, though mostly toward the sleeping child in his arms.

"It was a pleasure to be able to visit with her, Professor." Tonks said as the potions master seemed to be in a good mood so she figured she would dare to ask something that she was actually wondering on. "Would it be alright if when I am not busy studying for my upcoming exams if I visit with her more? She seems like a really sweet kid and I would like to get to know her more." She said as the dark professor seemed to think it over for a moment only to nod.

"I see no problem with allowing that." He said as he figured so long as he or someone else he trusted was nearby to keep an eye on them then Lily would be fine and safe. "Though you better get going since it will be curfew soon." He said only for his clumsy student to scramble to run from the room. An act that would have usually prompted him to take points from Hufflepuff and give the girl a week of detention, but not this time. No at the moment he was focused on the sleeping angel in his arms as he made sure she was securely held by his left arm as he moved his right hand into the folds of his cloak only for him to pull out his wand and wave it diminishing the candles and torches around the room casting it into darkness.

He was careful while carrying his daughter back to their quarters as he found that Twinkle was nowhere to be seen. 'She must be helping out somewhere with the other house elves in the castle.' He thought since he had told her they would be fine for a while. So Severus moved through the living room and down the hall toward his daughter's room as he flicked his wand allowing the candles in the room to be dimly lit so he could see what he was doing so as to make sure that he did not accidentally wake Lily as he went over to her bed and pulled back the blankets as he then carefully put her down on the bed before straightening waving his wand over her as her clothes changed from what she had been wearing to her blue night dress. Leaning back over her, Severus pulled the blanket to her shoulders and proceeded to tuck it around her to make sure she felt safe and secure while she slept before he leaned up over her and gently kissed her forehead. "Good night, my little Lily." Severus whispered before he straightened only to turn and head toward the door. As he got to the door he did a slight flick of his wand as the lights went out so that it would not risk her waking her up. Reaching back, he caught the cold handle in his hand as he pulled the door shut as he looked back at the sleeping angel in the room. 'I will do all I can to bring back your smile.' He thought to himself since seeing Lily as upset as she had been since Harry had been placed with the Weasley's had torn at Severus more than anything else could have. He found that he would have preferred to endure the cruciatus curse rather than the pain he felt at his daughter being sad.

/

Harry lay on his bed in the room with the youngest son of the Weasley family, one that Harry had found was named Ron. He had felt alone and distanced himself from those who said they were to be his family all due to how he did not want to be part of this family. He wanted to be allowed to return to Severus and Lily. Though as Harry lay staring at the ceiling as some of the pale moonlight filtered into the room he felt like there was a heavy weight on his chest and that his heart would soon give out at the thought of how he had been forced away from Lily. 'I want to see her again...I want to be with her...' Harry thought not realizing the full extent of what he was thinking at the moment. All due to how he was only eight and did not understand caring for another as much as one who was twice his age.

Though thinking about the one he had seen as more than a sister, though he was not yet sure what that was, he kept seeing her with tears streaming down her face as she cried out his name while Severus held her back before everything was consumed in green light. In that second Harry sat up as his bright green eyes were wide, all due to how he had a vague memory or was it a dream? He was not sure, but one thing he remembered was hearing distant yelling that he could not make out then a flash of green light.

'I am thinking too much into this...' Harry thought to himself as he heard the loud snoring from Ron not too far from where he was. 'I hate it here!' Harry thought as he wished more than anything that Severus and Lily would come and take him away from the Burrow. However, Harry knew deep down that Mrs. Weasley was a kind woman and was doing all she could to try and make Harry accept being adopted by the family, but there was no way Harry could accept it. Not when they had been the ones to tear him away from the family he had been happy with for the last three years. With a man who at times was cold and seemed distant, but in his own way, Severus had always shown that he did care for Harry and that he deeply loved his daughter. That and Mr. Weasley was alright, but in Harry's opinion he wondered at times why it was that the man had been obsessed with things that muggles developed. Maybe it was because Harry had spent four years being raised by muggles that he could not bring himself to be fascinated.

Then there were the Weasley children. Bill, one that Harry had met while being raised by Severus. He had always liked Bill, though sadly he had graduated recently and he was not living at the Burrow with the rest of the Weasley family. Then there was Charlie, the second oldest and one that Harry had first met when he had been at Hogwarts along with Severus and Lily. Charlie was another one that Harry had grown to like, though now he along with the third oldest, Percy, were all back at Hogwarts where Harry was wishing he could be. Though Harry had known he never cared for Percy, more so with how he was always hanging around with Levi Lupin who seemed intent on always picking on Lily when he had a chance. Fred and George, the twins, were ones that Harry beyond enjoyed being around because they were the complete opposite of Percy who was a stuck up jerk. Then there was Ron, the youngest Weasley boy, who was the same age as Harry. However, from the first time they had talked, Harry had an instant dislike of Ron. All due to how Ron had said that he had heard that Snape was nothing but a heartless bastard who delighted in torturing students. That and he was sure that the girl Snape was raising was no better, something that had led to a full on verbal fight between Harry and Ron in the first few hours of Harry being brought to the Burrow.

Something that Harry remembered all too well because of how he had been sitting on his bed facing Ron figuring he would try to make the most out of what was going on, only for Ron to say such horrible things about the two most important people in the world to Harry. A fight that had ended with Harry being put in the same room as Fred and George for a few days and Ron being grounded, a punishment that Harry saw as minor compared to what he had in that moment wanted to do to Ron.

Though another one of the Weasley children that Harry found he was okay with was the only girl, Ginny. She had been shy if not timid around him at first but she had soon gotten past it and now she was the one he visited the most along with the twins. She was a friendly young girl who was willing to go out with him around the yard and let him just vent what was he was angry about. Her kind yet fierce nature made him wish that she was the one who would be going to Hogwarts in the same year as him and Lily, not the bigot Ron.

'I hope that I will be allowed to see Lily and Severus soon…' Harry thought to himself as he felt himself slowly drifting off to sleep, tuning out the annoying snoring from Ron. 'I want to go home…' was Harry's final thought as he drifted off into sleep.

/

Lily woke early on Saturday as she slowly sat up feeling a bit out of it all due to how she was not sure what to do that day. She knew her dad would be grading essays that he had collected throughout the previous few days from the different years, and she was sure everyone else in the school even Tonks would be too busy to play with her. 'I wish Harry was still here…' She thought with a pang of sadness. Pushing that thought away, Lily slowly moved the blanket off of her as she got up from her bed only to go to the bathroom to start getting around, returning to her room a short while to get dressed in a pale blue sweater and blue jeans before she got out a blue winter cloak that her father had gotten her before the start of the term. Once she finished getting dressed she walked out to the living room to find that her father had not yet gotten up, though she was feeling hungry and thought to eat on her own. That and she knew her way to get to the Great Hall, so surely he would not mind if she went up there and sat with Hagrid if he was there, if not one that she had once called Professor Kitty until she got where she could actually pronounce the woman's name.

So with that figured out, Lily went over to the door and let herself out of the room, quietly closing the door and the portrait behind her before she headed off up the corridor toward the exit to the dungeons. Once she was in the Entrance Hall she glanced around not seeing anyone else as she felt a pang of sadness, wondering if maybe she woke earlier than she had thought. Though she figured she would at least check the Great Hall and hope that someone was already there since she did not like the thought of walking back down to the dungeons alone. So she slowly walked over toward the large doors that were slightly open as she peeked in to see that there were a few students at one of the house tables, she thought the table was possibly the Gryffindor table, but she could not be for sure.

She then glanced toward the head table to see that none of the Professors were there yet, meaning she would be by herself all due to how her dad had sat up a chair at the table for her beside his own. Taking a deep breath, Lily walked into the hall and headed up to the head table only to head straight for her seat, feeling like at least one pair of eyes was watching her closely, but she tried to pay no attention to it. It felt like it took her longer than usual to get to her seat as she pulled it out and sat down at the table only for Twinkle to appear beside her. "Good morning, Twinkle." Lily said forcing a slight smile, still feeling like she was being watched, but she was focusing her attention on the small house elf beside her.

"Good morning to you too, Mistress." Twinkle said in a happy tone as it seemed that the house elf thought that even seeing a forced smile was a step in the right direction to getting Lily to genuinely be happy again. "What is Mistress wanting this morning?" Twinkle asked as she was beaming up at Lily.

Lily found she did not know what she wanted so she glanced around the table as there was food already there as her blue eyes fell on some toast not far from her. "I will just do toast this morning." She said glancing back at Twinkle to see her smile fall as she rushed to continue. "I am just not super hungry right now. Though could you go tell my dad where I am so he doesn't go crazy looking for me?" Lily asked as Twinkle nodded, still with a sad and worried look on her face as the small elf vanished with a small pop.

Once the house elf had departed Lily shifted closer to the table and reached for some toast not far from her as she sat one slice on the plate before her only for her to bring the second one she had grabbed up to her mouth as she started to nibble at it. However soon a shadow fell over her as Lily looked up to see that it was the second year student, Levi Lupin. "Can I help you?" she asked looking up at him as Levi looked down at her with hard blue eyes. Something that made Lily feel more and more uncomfortable with each passing second as they remained there, him standing before the table staring down at her while she was sitting in her seat.

"You should have died when you were born…then there would be less pain for everyone." Levi said in a low tone as Lily stared up at him in confusion. "Granted everyone seems to think that you won't be what you were born to." He said as Lily moved back away from the table, standing from her seat as she got up and left her mostly untouched breakfast as she went to go around the table away from Levi, thinking to leave the hall and go back to the dungeons. However, Levi followed her. "Afraid to hear the truth of what you are?" he asked as he met her at the end of the table glaring down at her as Lily tried to draw herself up even though she was still shorter than Levi and unable to act as intimidating as her father could.

"I do not even know what you are talking about or why you have a problem with me besides that my dad is hard on those from your house." Lily said as Levi shook his head at her. "That and I have never once done anything toward you to provoke you to treat me in such a way." Lily said as she thought in that moment to call for Twinkle, more so when Levi reached out gripping her left arm between her elbow and shoulder. "Let go of me!" Lily demanded as she tried to pull back but Levi merely kept a firm grip on her.

"It is your fault…" he said in a low tone before another voice was heard fast approaching them.

"Lupin!" a female voice called as he released Lily's arm only to turn slightly toward a pink haired Hufflepuff that was running toward the two of them. In an instant, Lily recognized that it was Tonks. Though when coming around the corner of the table, Tonks caught her arm on the corner slightly but did not slow down. Instead she rushed over to stand between Levi and Lily. "I suggest you go back to your table or else I will inform Professor Snape of what you were doing." Tonks said in a low threatening tone.

"It wouldn't matter if you did or not, Tonks. You are not a prefect so it is not like you can really do anything." Levi said showing he saw her threat as nothing but empty words. "Besides I was doing nothing wrong." He said in an offhand tone.

"Oh? Then what would you call you having a hold of her and her demanding that you release her?" Tonks asked as Levi gave her an annoyed look. "And I think I will go ahead and let Professor Snape know what you were doing." She said as she turned slightly and held out her hand to Lily. "Come on, I'll take you back to your dad." She said as Tonks had not intended to be one to look out for the girl, but she found she could not help but do so. It was not more than a second or two later that she felt the small hand of Lily rest in her own as Tonks closed her hand around it only to start and lead the young girl from the Great Hall. Once they were out in the Entrance Hall, Tonks looked down at Lily with a worried look on her face. "Are you alright?" she asked as she had a feeling that whatever had been said between the two may not have been pleasant.

"Y-yeah…" Lily said as her voice shook ever so slightly all due to how what Levi had said kept repeating in her mind. That she should have died. She fought to keep her composure as they soon were heading down the steps into the dungeon. "Tonks…?" Lily asked after a moment as she felt the gaze of the older girl rest on her but she remained silent. "Why would one say it was better if someone died?" Lily asked in a hesitant tone.

Tonks stopped when she heard what Lily asked as she looked down at the young girl in pure shock. "Is that…what he was saying to you?" she asked in a hesitant tone as Lily nodded at her. 'That little…' Tonks thought before she knelt down before Lily only to pull her close into a hug. "Do not pay any mind to what he said. You know that you are loved." Tonks said as she knew she had no place to claim something like that toward the child, but she knew she did not wish to see Lily suffer any. That was when she came to a decision. "How about I take you to check in with your dad and then the two of us go out and walk around the grounds?" Tonks offered as Lily, something that seemed to cheer the younger girl up instantly.

/

The day had been a full one as Tonks had done as she had said, she put off her studying for that one day to spend with Lily to try and cheer her up. Though when it got to be late, she ended up carrying the small eight-year-old back toward the school to find Professor Snape on his way up from the dungeons. "Professor!" Tonks called getting his attention as he headed over, easing his sleeping daughter away from Tonks as he nodded at her in appreciation. "Oh, sir!" Tonks said as the professor had gone to turn away.

"What is it, Miss Tonks?" he asked as he continued to hold Lily in his arms.

"I wanted to let you know something I witnessed and that Lily told me when I was bringing her back to the dungeons to ask your permission to spend time with her out on the grounds." Tonks said as the dark professor looked at her with a questioning look, so she continued quickly so as to not test his patience. "I arrived in the Great Hall this morning for breakfast only to see that no professors were at the head table, just Lily by herself." Tonks paused for a second. "Only thing is Levi Lupin approached her and the two spoke for a moment before Lily got up from the table and went to walk away with an upset look on her face, but Levi cut her off and grabbed her by the arm before I could get to them to stop him." Tonks said as she started to feel fear of her professor grow within her due to the murderous look on his face at hearing that Levi had dared to lay a hand on his child. However, to try and be able to escape in one piece, Tonks rushed to continue speaking. "I managed to get Lily away from Levi and on our way down into the dungeons she asked me why someone would say another should have died." Tonks said as the look on her professor's face was one that beyond terrified her.

"Thank you for letting me know that." Was all Severus said as he turned and headed toward the dungeons with his daughter in his arms, since he knew he was not about to take her into the Great Hall where Lupin was. 'As if it was not bad enough that the older one tormented me in school, now his damned son has to do the same to my daughter!' Severus thought, but he knew deep down there was much more to this. All due to how from what the headmaster had shown him, Lily was actually Levi's younger sister and that her birth had caused their mother to fall gravely ill. 'But that does not matter, I will not let anyone ever hurt her.' He thought as he got to their quarters as he put Lily down on the couch and summoned Twinkle to order something simple for dinner for the two of them as he sat down near Lily's head and lightly brushed some of her dark hair out of her face as he was already deciding on a punishment fit for what Levi had done that morning.

**A/N: **Finally got this chapter done! I am so sorry that it took me so long, but I am hoping that I can rotate updates (yes I know I have said that in the past, but I think I have it figured out now). Where the next story slated for an update is Eternal Star and Blood Oath: Destiny then I will update Second Chance and then this one again. Now time to thank a few people. I want to thank POTTERPHILE, risi, and Becklii for having reviewed the last chapter. I hope this chapter is to everyone's liking, especially since it took me so long to update. I will hopefully get the updates up soon so it will not be as long of a wait for the next one.


	8. Harsh Realization

**Harsh Realization**

Over the last several months, Lily had seemed to cheer up little by little thanks to one she saw as almost like an older sister, and when the end of the term approached Lily teased Tonks a little. All due to how the older girl said she had thought for a while she would die during her O.W.L. exams. Something that Lily thought was amusing all due to how when she was not spending time with her dad, or out playing with Tonks, Lily was curled up reading one of her father's potion books or any spell books she could get her hands on. Something that had led to Severus trying to tuck the books away out of Lily's reach until she had a violent outburst with her developing magic. One that ended with Lily throwing a little bit of a fit since it had been during exam week and Tonks was not available to play with her so she wanted to just bury herself in books since even with the protective charm she had promised her father she would always wear; she was not allowed outside of their quarters unless Severus or Tonks were with her.

So after Severus had told her for what felt like the millionth time that day that the books she kept wanting to look at were far to advanced for an eight year old he had walked out of the room only to hear what sounded like a mini explosion. He had rushed back to the room only to find that all of the books he had put away back on the floor and the shelf in splinters around Lily. She swore up and down that she had not meant to do it, and Severus had been upset with her but nowhere near as shocked as he was. She was only eight and her magic was already developing in leaps and bounds. Something that led to him thinking to at least start teaching her a little over the summer, at least in potions since the child had an interest in the subject. However, when she compared it to cooking he about lost it.

Thinking back on that brought a smile to Severus' face as he sat before the fireplace that had a gentle blaze within the hearth. He stared into the flames as the memory began to play back through his mind as he closed his eyes allowing himself to see the memory even clearer. It had been during mid spring when Lily had been playing in the Potions classroom with Tonks while Severus had been listening to the bell like sound of his daughter laughing while he was working on a fresh batch of dreamless sleep potion for the Hospital Wing. All due to how at this time in the year the fifth year students started having extreme anxiety attacks and nightmares of their fast approaching exams, so it was normal for Severus to have to brew a few batches of the potion each year.

He had been waiting for the potion to need to be stirred as he was studying the potions book on his desk only to hear a soft sound followed by a tug at his black cloak. Glancing down he saw that Lily was trying to hide behind him, making him think that maybe Tonks had scared his daughter. His dark gaze shifted to a glare as he looked toward his hyperactive student only to see she was facing the wall and counting? 'Are they really playing hide and seek?' Severus thought as he gave Tonks a confused look as she finished counting to twenty before turning around to start looking for Lily. Shaking his head, he turned back to his book as the game continued around him, as he was just happy that his daughter was finally seeming to get over how much she missed having Harry around. But deep down, Severus knew that wound ran deep and it may not heal until she was allowed to see Harry again. Something Severus was planning to set up for during the summer, more so since their birthdays were so close, so surely he would be allowed to watch Harry for Lily's birthday so she could be with her friend.

But Severus was brought from his thoughts about an hour later when Lily came over and tapped at his side to get his attention. So he looked away from what he was reading as he looked to his daughter who was smiling up at him. The smile was not quite the same as before, but it was a step in the right direction for her to smile at all. "What is it, Lily?" Severus asked.

"Are you cooking again?" Lily asked as she looked up at her father with an innocent expression as he stared down at her in pure shock.

"What?" Severus asked in pure confusion as he looked down at the sweet innocent smile on his daughters face, though he could still see the sadness shining through.

"Cooking." Lily said as though she thought it was normal to ask her father such a thing. "Isn't potion making similar to cooking?" she asked as Tonks in the back of the classroom looked like she was about to run from the room out of fear that the potions master would assume she had been the one to put such thoughts in Lily's head. "Because from what I read, cooking is taking different ingredients and making something with them." Lily said as Severus was still dumbfounded by the question and how Lily had explained it.

Shaking his head Severus forced that memory away as he could still remember how Lily had reacted in shock when he tried to explain they were not fully similar due to how potions was dangerous and cooking was far from dangerous. Though at the moment he heard the door to his quarters open as he turned to see Lily skipping in as he got the feeling she was still not fully happy with how things were. 'She is putting up a front…' he thought with a pang of sadness since he wanted nothing more than for her to be truly happy again, that was when it dawned on him. "Lily, come here." He said as she came over only to sit beside him looking at him in confusion as he spoke again. "Why don't you write to Harry? I am sure the elder Weasley boy in the same year as your friend Tonks will gladly send it." He said as suddenly the true smile found its way back onto the face of his precious angel.

"I am allowed to do that?" she asked, a hint of doubt but hope evident in her voice as she stared at her dad as he smiled at her and nodded.

"Of course. Harry just went to live elsewhere, it isn't like the two of you cannot write and possibly set a time to visit this summer." He said since in truth there was one more week of school as all of the exams were wrapping up, mainly the first through fourth and sixth year exams since O.W.L. and N.E.W.T. were being done separate from the regular exams.

"I will do that!" Lily said before she threw her arms around her father in an enthusiastic hug as she then jumped down from the couch and ran to her room to grab some parchment she had along with a quill her father had gotten her while he was supervising a trip to Hogsmeade while Lily had been going around to the shops with Tonks. Something that Tonks had been beyond happy to do for Lily since seeing the excitement and wonder in the small girl's eyes has been something that beyond made Tonks happy since she was an only child and had no younger siblings.

'How is it that Dumbledore could believe even for a second that my daughter will bring nothing but misfortune when her smile brings happiness and light into people's lives when they have nothing?' Severus thought as he knew that Lily had been the one to bring new light and meaning to his own life when he had allowed his cold heart to be open again to the love from another. Then there was how even Harry had been in a dark place only for Lily to smile and offer him a chance to be part of a real family, even if both had been growing up without a mother in their lives, they had been beyond happy being together with Severus. 'Damned old fool!' Severus thought in frustration as he heard a soft sound as he looked toward it to see Lily had come back and was sitting at the table where they sometimes ate when they didn't go to the Great Hall.

Lily was beyond focused as she spread out her parchment and started to scribble and cross out bits for her letter to Harry. Mainly because of how there was so much that had happened since she had last seen him, and how she wanted to know how he was, yet at the same time part of her wanted to ask if he wanted her and Severus to take him back after how he had been forced away from them. After almost two hours, Lily smiled down at the letter she had written as she picked it up and read over it to be sure it came out right.

_Harry,_

_I hope you are doing okay since it has been so long since I saw you! Dad and me both miss you and wish you were still here. I made a new friend who is really funny. She is able to change her appearance at will and sometimes walks around with bright pink hair, something that always gets an upset look from dad. She is really nice, and even is almost like a big sister to me. _

_Oh, and with how your birthday will be in just over a month, do you think the ones who took you away will let you spend the day with dad and me? Or maybe allow us to meet you somewhere so that we can do something like we used to? I really hope so because I miss you! The little amount I have been able to ask Charlie, he says that you were not too happy there, so I do not see why you had to be taken away. Please write back soon. Dad and me will be going home in the next few days to a week once school lets out for the summer holiday._

_Lily_

Severus had stood and walked over to be behind his daughter as he looked over her shoulder at the letter thinking that surely Harry would be allowed to meet with them if not be allowed one day to not be at the Burrow. Mainly because of how it was not like he would ever harm the boy, and neither would Lily so there was no reason at all to deny them being allowed to see one another for Harry's birthday. More so when he saw a certain line in the letter his daughter was writing before she had fully completed it. That Harry was not happy there. 'So you place him somewhere that you assume he will be happy instead of leaving things be…' Severus thought in frustration as he forced himself to not appear upset when Lily had turned in her seat to look up at him with a smile on her face.

"We will send it in the morning." Severus said since it was later in the evening and he thought it best to have Lily get some sleep after she had been playing with Tonks all day. They enjoyed a small dinner together after Lily had cleared the table of her parchment and put her quill and ink back in her room. Not long after dinner, Severus sat on the couch with Lily laying against him as he had a book out that he was reading to her. He had never thought he would become accustomed to the stories from muggles, but he had because of how when he tried to read her some other stories when she had been younger she had gotten scared. Though for obvious reasons he avoided reading her some that portrayed wolves as bad characters, since he did not ever want her to have that mentality.

He was only halfway through the chapter he was reading to her of a book she had recently picked that he thought was far too complex for a child, something dealing with something small being dangerous, when he glanced to his left side only to see Lily sleeping soundly beside him. 'How could I have ever thought to never open my heart to her?' Severus thought to himself as he put the book to the side before he shifted, gathering his daughter up in his arms as he went to stand and carry her to her room. Once in there he relied on the dim light from her nightstand candle that came to life when he flicked his wand in his hand. He walked over to her bed as he placed her down after pulling back the blankets as he brought the blanket up and tucked it around her before kissing her forehead, whispering his wish for her to have sweet dreams and that he loved her. He went to straighten and leave her room as the candle went out.

/

The following morning Lily woke early only to rush and get dressed in jeans and a light blue t-shirt as she even scrambled to pull on her tennis shoes and run a brush through her black hair before running to her dad's room to find him sound asleep. She wanted to be sure she got the letter to Harry as soon as possible, so she figured she could make it up to the owlery and back by the time her dad woke since he had been up late a lot lately. However, remembering how her father tended to worry when she was not in her room or in their quarters in general should he wake while she was gone, she quietly called out to Twinkle. And as though the house elf had sensed that there was a need to remain silent, she appeared with only a faint pop already bowing to the small child before her.

"Twinkle, I am going to the owlery, so can you let dad know when he gets up if he does so before I get back?" Lily asked as Twinkle looked at Lily with worry in her eyes even as Lily was smiling at Twinkle. "I promise I will be careful; it is just that I need to send this letter as soon as possible to Harry." Lily said as she pulled out the letter from her pocket to show to Twinkle so she could fully verify for her father that was all she was wanting to do. "I want to send this so that I can hear back from him quickly." Lily said as there was a sad tone in her voice as Twinkle gave Lily a concerned look. All due to how in that look, Lily had reminded Twinkle of her former mistress she had served, Lily's mother. Just before she had gone into labor due to worry for the unborn child she was carrying.

"I will, though mistress, please do be careful. You know Master Snape does worry so!" Twinkle pleaded as Lily pulled Twinkle close into a hug, something that surprised the small house elf for a moment before she recovered and returned the hug. "Just avoid that one boy, please mistress." Twinkle pleaded as Lily let go of her.

"I will, because he should not even be out in the corridors yet." Lily said as she walked over to the door and opened it before slipping out into the corridor. She saw Twinkle one last time before she let the door close behind her as she heard and could even feel the protective spells go into place that would only be released with her uttering the password or even just resting her hand against the door or the pendant her father gave her. Shaking her head, Lily turned and headed up the corridor knowing to find the owlery she would need to first make it up to the Entrance Hall since that would at least mean she was going the right way.

It only took half an hour for Lily to find her way up to the Entrance Hall, all due to how a few stray portraits on the walls had distracted her with engaging her in conversation on where she was going without her father or her new friend to escort her. She had laughed and insisted she was alright to be in the corridor alone, even when some other portraits had insisted that she should be more cautious due to how not all even in the school were safe for a small child to be around. She knew that all too well, all due to Levi who even in the last few months had taken to being even more cruel to her, at least when he could since she was always around either her dad or Tonks most of the time. But when Lily had finally gotten a portrait that kept her in conversation for ten minutes to tell her if she was on the right course for where she was needing to go, she finally found the right staircase, one that she usually had a hard time finding since she did not usually pay attention to where she was going when she was with her dad or Tonks.

Once she was in the Entrance Hall she glanced around to the Grand Staircase that led up to the next floor of the castle. She started running up the stairs only to hear a strange voice she had never heard before call to her as she stopped abruptly to look back down the stairs to see it was what appeared to be one of the professors. A woman wearing shawls on her shoulders and large glasses that magnified her dark cold eyes drastically to the point Lily was reminded of an insect. As Lily stood there staring down at the woman she walked up the stairs toward where Lily stood until she was a few steps down to be only half a head taller than Lily as she reached out her hand.

"You are the child adopted by the Potions Master who has had a dark cloud following you since your destiny began at birth." The woman said as Lily gave her a shocked look while her blue eyes were very wide. "Do not be surprised, dear." The woman said as she came up two more steps so she was a little taller than Lily as she let her hand move back to her side. "I am one who has been watching what fate has in store for you for some time. I am Professor Trelawney, the Divination professor." Professor Trelawney said as Lily was still staring at her in disbelief. "Though I must say I am surprised you have the gift and that it is fast developing." She said keeping her large bug like eyes locked on Lily.

"G-gift?" Lily asked as she gulped slightly not sure what to think of this professor. All due to how she had met near every other professor that taught at the school, but not this one.

"A gift of sight beyond that of what mortals see." Professor Trelawney said in an airy tone as she continued to look at Lily in a way that obviously made the child uncomfortable. "If you would come with me for a brief moment, since it is on your way to the owlery, I would like to show you a sample of what you will be capable of once you are able to be trained more. Without even seeing if Lily would follow, Trelawney had started up the stairs once again.

For a few brief seconds, Lily hesitated as she decided there was no harm in at least seeing what exactly Trelawney had been talking about. So Lily rushed up a few steps before slowly to be about two steps away from the professor as they walked in silence until they reached a tower that Lily had never been to before. A ladder fell to allow them to climb up, though Trelawney insisted that Lily go up first and that she would follow. So without hesitation, Lily started to climb as once she got to the top she found herself in what appeared to be the oddest classroom she had ever seen. She moved so she was standing not too far from the trapdoor as she glanced around. The fumes from the fire were near overpowering as she started coughing as Trelawney climbed up into the room and shut the trapdoor behind her, immediately sending Lily into a worried state.

"Do not worry, child. I was merely closing the door so as to block out the mass of energies that will be surging soon since everyone will be waking and making their way down to the Great Hall." Trelawney said as she seemed to glide past Lily over to a table that was draped in various colored clothes with a crystal ball resting on a clawed stand. "Come closer." Trelawney said as she sat down behind the table as Lily walked over closer. "I have been wanting to test your current ability, and now is the best time. You are at one of the many pivotal moments of your young life. So many around you already have influence over your life, yet you are firmly set on the path you were destined for." She said as Lily sat down opposite of her.

"What do you mean? There is nothing special about me, so why do you keep talking like there is?" Lily asked as Trelawney gave her a sad half smile.

"Child, there is so much that you are destined for, but it would not be enough for you to be told that you hold power and that you are destined to sway the outcome of things. It is not yet time for that, but for now it is time for you to start developing this budding power that you hold within you." Trelawney said as she then focused on the crystal ball between her and Lily, while Lily mirrored her by focusing on it. "For you see, as I told you, I have been following your path for some time. All because of a unique power that you and only you possess." Trelawney said as Lily remained focused on the crystal ball only to see things as she felt that her body was going limp, even though she remained upright on the cushion. Her eyes going out of focus, yet remaining fully focused on the swirling mists of the crystal ball before her.

The mist swirled into the shape of a figure she did not recognize, one that was clad all in black, with red snake like eyes glowing from deep within the hood. Lily tried to look away but the swirling mist held her captive as the figure moved closer as she could hear a low hiss from it.

"_You will be mine. The cursed child of the moon."_

Before she could try to make sense of it, the figure exploded into black smoke that swirled all around Lily's vision as she soon saw under the light of the full moon. As her attention shifted to three figures that formed she saw that she was the one in the middle with two standing beside her, all she could tell was they were around her age and male, nothing more due to how their faces and features cast in shadows. A new hooded figure appeared before the three of them as she tried to see the figure but all she could see was a skeleton within the hood. The figure held out their hand as a strange shape appeared in the air between them, that of a triangular eye. Suddenly each of them held something in their hands that appeared to glow in accordance with the triangular eye before them…

Lily felt someone shaking her as she found she could not open her eyes but remained limp on the ground, not even recalling how she had gotten there, just that it was strangely soft, and the assortment of scents that had been flooding her at the time when she had looked into the crystal ball were gone, replaced by the scent of lemon. There was only one place in the school that she knew of that held that scent, the hospital wing. Slowly forcing her eyes to open, the fell on her father who was sitting on the edge of the bed she was on as he looked like he was in the midst of having a panic attack before his dark eyes fell on her to see that her blue eyes had opened.

"Oh, Lily!" Severus breathed as he suddenly snatched Lily up off of the bed so she was more or less sitting up held only by the strong arms of her father. "I was so worried, Twinkle said you had gone to the owlery but when I found Tonks and she said she had just come from there and had not seen you…I was so worried something had happened…" Severus said in a low worried tone as Lily tried to remember what had happened as it was suddenly all a haze.

"I…I was on my way there, but…I ran into Professor Trelawney…" Lily said as her father stiffened and pulled back from her giving her a confused look.

"That is not possible, Professor Trelawney was still asleep in her office when you were found alone unconscious in her classroom." Severus said as he was not sure why his daughter would say that she had been with a professor she should not have even known. "What did the person look like?" he asked as he gave Lily a worried look.

"She was wearing a lot of shawls on her shoulders, wearing big glasses that magnified her dark cold eyes." Lily said as she saw her father give her an even more worried look before he suddenly put her back down on the bed. "Dad?" Lily asked in a confused tone before the door at the far end of the wing opened as a familiar pink haired student came rushing into the hospital wing and ran over to the bed where Lily was with her dad still holding her. "Tonks…?" Lily asked as her dad suddenly lowered her down.

"Tonks, I need you to stay here with Lily while I go take care of something." Severus said as he was suddenly back on his feet and rushing from the hospital, even as Lily called after him, he did not stop because he had to get to the headmaster since there was something not right about what Lily had said, more so because Trelawney had admitted under a small dose of veritaserum that she had not gone near Lily but had been in her quarters and office the entire night until Severus had all but knocked down her door.

However, now Severus was rushing down the corridor to the headmaster's office since he was wanting answers on what had happened, and it seemed that only the old man would have them. So as he approached the guardian of the headmaster's office, he growled out the password and waited impatiently for the stairs to reach the top where the door was. Without hesitation, Severus went into the office demanding answers from Dumbledore who looked not at all cheerful since the twinkle in his blue eyes was gone, no now he looked weary.

/

An hour later, Madame Pomfrey released Lily, resulting in Tonks reluctantly taking the confused child from the wing. Though it became apparent they would not be allowed to wait for Lily's father there as Madame Pomfrey came outside of the wing and shooed them away saying for them to go enjoy the weather that some sun and fresh air would do Lily some good as they called for Twinkle to take Lily's letter to the owlery to get it sent to Harry and to also meet with Severus to let him know that Tonks had taken Lily outside for a little bit after being released from the hospital wing.

As they walked outside Tonks looked down toward Lily noticing how she did not seem to be herself at the moment, something that had Tonks worried since her friend was almost always smiling later only for her to look pale and her expression hard. "Lily?" Tonks asked as she stopped down the lawn from the castle heading toward the lake. It took a brief second for Lily to seem to register what was said as she soon stopped and looked back at Tonks. "What is wrong?" Tonks asked stepping closer and kneeling down before Lily to be closer to her height. "Did something happen before you were found?" she asked worried about what could have happened since from what she had heard someone had impersonated the Divination Professor for a bit.

"It is…" Lily started as she looked at Tonks only for her to look away and shake her head ever so slightly. "Nothing…" she said as she was sure anyone she tried to tell the full story to would think she was crazy for how she had seen something in the crystal ball that had terrified her more so because she did not know who the one she had seen in the first bit was, only that something about him terrified her. Then what she saw in the second one seemed like a distant dream she had once before, but it was shrouded in a thick fog.

"You know you can tell me anything, right?" Tonks asked in a worried tone as she looked at Lily full of concern more so since it seemed that Lily was straining to remain awake at the moment. Within seconds Lily looked like she was about to say something but her blue eyes seemed to be focused on something off in the distance before closing as she fell to toward the ground but before she could hit the ground, Tonks caught her. "Lily?" Tonks said in a worried tone as she lightly shook the limp child in her arms. "Lily!"

/

The final week of school had been a long one for Severus as he did not make many appearances, even opting out of the end of the year feast to take care of Lily who had suddenly fallen ill even though the full moon was not until about two weeks into the holiday. So Severus sat by Lily's bed day and night to try and make sure she would be alright but she seemed to go into fits during her sleep causing Severus to wonder if he should take her to see Madame Pomfrey or even to St. Mungo's. Though with her affliction being around the corner he decided against taking her out of fear that she would be reported as an unregistered werewolf.

So on the day the students were to leave he left Lily long enough to find Tonks to inform her that Lily was still not recovered from whatever was wrong with her, and that he would write her when it got closer to Lily's birthday for Tonks to come spend the day with her. Upon returning, he found that Twinkle had already prepped everything and had gone ahead of them to try and get things at the house ready to insure that once he got Lily there she would be able to rest. Though when Severus went to get Lily he found her sitting up on her bed with her small face in her hands silently crying. The only clue to her crying was her small shoulders shaking in her silence.

"Lily?" Severus asked in a concerned tone due to how she had not been up much in the last week only for her to be sitting up and crying. "What is wrong?" he asked as he knelt down beside her bed as she shook her head showing she was still trying to bottle things up. "Lily, I need you to tell me." Severus said in a gentle near pleading tone since her silence had been tearing at him worse than prolonged exposure to the cruciatus curse.

After a few more seconds Lily spoke in a small voice. "I…I got a letter…" she said as Severus noticed the letter beside the bed as he reached down and picked it up. "It…it says I…I am not…allowed….to write to...Harry…" Lily said as her voice was breaking from her crying as when she finished speaking her whole body convulsed from the sob that escaped her only for her father to reach out wrap his arms around her in a secure embrace due to how he was worried about her. All due to how he knew at this point they did not know what it was to love another in any specific way, but it was like Harry and Lily had already developed a bond deeper than any love he had ever seen. They remained like that for several moments in silence as Severus started to gently rub circles on Lily's back as he was scrambling trying to think of why it was that she would not be allowed to write to Harry.

"Lily…" Severus whispered as he dropped the letter for a brief moment as he hugged her tightly. "How about you lay down for a moment longer and then I will come get you and give you a potion to help you rest during the trip home?" he asked as he continued to hold Lily until she nodded and he shifted gently lowering her back to her bed as he leaned forward placing a gentle kiss on her forehead before gathering the letter up again before he walked from the room quietly closing the door behind himself. Without any hesitation he rushed to the living room where he rushed to read the letter which was short.

_You are never to write Harry again. He is our child and we do not want him to have anything to do with someone like your father. I am sorry you are being raised by such a horrible man who delights in tormenting his students. You may have contact with Harry once he is in school if he so chooses to have contact with you but until then stay away from him!_

Severus stood in the center of the living room staring at the letter, his mouth hanging open ever so slightly at the harsh words contained in the letter that had been sent to his daughter for just wanting to see how Harry was doing. That and how Arthur and Molly called into question his parenting in the letter made him feel sick at his stomach. 'This is going too far!' Severus thought in pure frustration due to how they were punishing Harry and Lily when they had done nothing wrong, especially not Lily. Just the thought of what the letter said caused Severus to tighten his hand around the letter as he figured if the Weasley's wanted to be like that, then so be it. He would do all he could to protect his daughter's happiness. And anyone who dared to try and steal her smile and happiness be damned.

**A/N: **Finally got this chapter done, sorry for the delay. I plan to update again hopefully by midmonth if everything goes as planned but with the holidays fast approaching I do not know how they will play out for me so will just have to wait and see. I want to take this moment to thank Toraach for reviewing the last chapter, which is something I always appreciate. That and I want to also thank everyone who has read this story to this point and all of those who have favorited and followed this story. This chapter is for all of you! I will try to update again soon!


	9. Truth

**Truth**

Just over one year had passed since the cruel letter from the Weasley's. Severus had gone to Dumbledore and voiced his displeasure at the way the letter was worded but the insufferable fool had said that the Weasley's had done what was right. That Harry was better not being around Lily, that she was better off isolated from everyone except for Severus since she was dangerous. So Severus had considered taking a hiatus from teaching but Lily had begged him not to during the first month of that summer since that would mean she would not be able to see her friend Tonks again. So to keep his daughter happy, Severus had burned his letter he had been about to send once they got home.

He had rushed getting things he needed to stock his lab at their house where they lived and then he had set to planning the best birthday party he could for his little Lily. He knew that she would not be able to have many over, so he opted to instead just invite Tonks once he had checked and made sure the full moon did not fall to close to her birthday. Toward the end of July, he got the confirmation from Tonks that she would be coming to the small party since she had already finished her summer homework, and because she had gotten the hint that Lily was very lonely from the letters the two were sending near constantly between them. However, one night shortly before the end of July, Severus had gone into Lily's room to find her sound asleep at her desk with what looked like a birthday card she had been working on. His heart ached in that moment since he knew that she had been making that card for Harry.

'I will just hide it and explain to her again in the morning.' Severus thought as he reached for it only for it to be pulled away as his dark eyes drifted up to see bright blue eyes staring at him. "Lily, we talked about this. We cannot send anything to him…" Severus started but Lily sat up and shook her head sending her shoulder length black hair about her slightly.

"I am not sending it to him." She said as she noticed her father giving her a confused look. "But even with me unable to send them, it would not feel right to not make something to celebrate his birthday…" Lily said as a few tears found their way down her pale cheeks while her small shoulders began to shake from her silent sobs.

Severus felt his heart ache even more due to how he could tell that love had started to be planted between her and Harry, and yet they were denied being able to see one another. "Lily…" Severus started only for the floo network to sound as he looked back over his shoulder before looking back to his daughter. "Stay here." He said before he left to go check on who could be trying to come through as he got down to the living room and opened the network enough for him to find out who it was only for a letter to come through. He knelt down and picked it up seeing that it was addressed to him as he stared at it in confusion. After a brief moment he opened it and pulled out the letter and proceeded to read it.

_Severus, I need your help! I am planning to take Draco and leave Lucius tonight but we do not have anywhere else to go since once I leave him I doubt that any of my family will even spare us a glance. I know this is a lot to ask of you, but could you please help us as a friend? I am wishing to get Draco away from his father after how Lucius struck Draco for just not agreeing with him about the beliefs that his father has. If you are able to help us, please send a letter back using this method as soon as possible._

_Narcissa_

Severus stared at the letter for a brief moment as he knew his answer, all due to how he remembered all too well that Lucius could be unforgiving. "Twinkle!" Severus yelled as he rushed to the kitchen to find a quill and some ink while tearing away part of the letter so that he could send his response. While he was frantically scribbling the response to his friend, the small house elf appeared with a small pop beside Severus. Before she could speak Severus spoke in a rushed tone. "I am going to be leaving for a bit, but I need you to stay with Lily and insure that she remains safe!" he said as he finished writing the letter and ran to the fireplace sending it through the floo network the same as Narcissa had done with the letter she had sent him. "I will be back shortly with Narcissa and Draco." He said as he threw a pinch of powder into the flames only to step in. "Malfoy Manor!" he said since he did not wish to wait and risk Narcissa or Draco being harmed.

Once Severus arrived he found that the vast room was in disarray as he heard yelling upstairs. Without a second thought, Severus drew his wand and rushed up the stairs to find Lucius trying to curse Narcissa yelling how he would not tolerate her taking his son that she could leave if she wished but Draco was not going with her. Without any hesitation Severus raised his wand and sent a stunning spell at Lucius from behind causing the other wizard to crumple to the floor in a heap allowing him to see past him to a battle worn Narcissa and terrified Draco. "He saw my response didn't he?" Severus asked as he rushed over picking up Draco figuring that it would be far quicker if he carried the shaken boy and led Narcissa.

"Y-yes he did." Narcissa said in a shaking voice as she followed Severus while he rushed past the heap that was Lucius and down the stairs to the fireplace. Once before the fireplace, Severus handed Draco over to Narcissa as she mentioned how they did not have any of their bags but Severus urged her to go through, that they could replace that stuff, that the first priority was to get her and Draco out of the house. After throwing some powder into the flames they disappeared closely followed by Severus before the stunning spell could wear off.

/

The following day Severus took Narcissa, Draco and Lily to London and Diagon Alley to get a few things, mainly clothes for Narcissa and Draco as well as books for Lily since the child was reading through books faster than Severus could supply them for her. Part of him hoping that she wouldn't end up reading every book in the Hogwarts Library before she started school in just a few years. Though as the day went on Severus started to see having Narcissa and Draco around sort of helped with the hole that Harry had left behind in the small family. That and Narcissa had taken a near instant like to Lily once they got past how Lily was not used to older females around, something Severus knew was because he had never dated anyone and how her biological mother had died when Lily was barely a year old.

By that afternoon Lily was laughing even when Severus and Narcissa took the two children to Florean Fortescue's Ice Cream Parlor. Though while watching Lily and Draco joke and laughing, Narcissa spoke to Severus with a smile on her face. "I do not think I have seen Draco this genuinely happy in a long time." She said as she noticed how Severus' daughter had a strange gift, one that made it so that she could make those around her happy with her sweet smile.

"Same with Lily, ever since last Christmas…" Severus said glancing to Narcissa as he knew that they were just friends but at the same time it seemed that in the few hours they had been out of the house that Lily had started to see Narcissa as one she could look up to. He wondered if it would be alright for Narcissa and Draco to come along with him and Lily when they returned to Hogwarts or if it would end up being where Narcissa and Draco would stay at the house while Lily and Severus left.

/

The day of Lily's birthday came as Tonks arrived by Floo as she arrived early to help Severus prep things for the party that was to take place that afternoon while Lily and Draco both were still sound asleep. Tonks had been shocked to see one that she knew was Narcissa due to how they were of some distant relation but to her surprise one who was her actually her aunt be kind to her since from what she had heard from her mother that when she had married a muggle that a good amount of the family had all but disowned her along with Tonks as the daughter of such a union.

However, while they had been decorating, Tonks had tripped and caused such a loud ruckus that ended up waking Lily before the decorating was done. Something that did not seem to phase the now nine-year-old child. More so when she jumped out of bed to hug her best friend not even noticing the decorations until Tonks had mentioned it to her. When Lily had looked around her blue eyes lit up with excitement at the thought of how everything looked in her room, with balloons everywhere, a banner enchanted to hang over her bed and an endless shower of confetti that she found out Twinkle had insisted on.

The day was spent in happy bliss, as it seemed for a moment that Lily was finally forgetting about Harry, even if that was only a feeble wish on Severus' part. He did not care, all he cared about was that for once Lily was actually happy again. That is until that night when the festivities had died down and Tonks departed to return home after an awkward visit with her aunt and cousin, with Narcissa asking if Andromeda would be up for a visit at some point to rekindle the relationship they had once had as children. Something that Tonks said she would relay to her mother and leave it up to her before she had left. Severus had busied himself with helping Lily wind down after all of the excitement, only getting her to bed after ten that night, as Narcissa seemed to be fighting the same battle with Draco since both children had been wound up and having a great time the entire day with Tonks. More so when Tonks kept changing her appearance to earn laughs and smiles from her cousin and friend.

Once Lily was put down to bed and started to nod off, Severus leaned over her and placed a gentle kiss on her forehead wishing her sweet dreams and a final happy birthday before he quietly left her room. After visiting with Narcissa briefly he retired for the night. 'At least even if only for today, Lily was allowed to know happiness again.' Severus thought as he got into bed and found himself drifting off fairly quickly.

/

Within the short while between when Narcissa and Draco started to live with Severus and Lily, Andromeda had come by with Tonks to have an awkward visit with her sister. Things had been gradual and just a few days before Severus and Lily were to leave, Narcissa and Draco had left to spend time with their family. Lily had been sad and a bit envious that it seemed Draco was gaining more family while it was just her and her dad. Something she voiced to Severus the night before they were to return to Hogwarts, just a week before school was to start. Lily had ventured from her room after getting changed into her pink night gown that hung down to her knees as she crept down the stairs to find her father sitting before the fireplace reading a book.

"Dad?" Lily asked as she stood facing toward where her father was while she stood at the foot of the stairs. It seemed that her small voice had jolted her father from what he was reading as he sat it down only to rush over to her and kneel down so they were closer to the same height since she was still small for her age.

"What is wrong Lily? I thought you had already gone to sleep since we are leaving early tomorrow morning." Severus said in worry as he reached out double checking that Lily did not have a fever due to how the full moon was approaching again. A time when thanks to the potion she was able to remain as herself, but she would become very weak and even at times feverish.

Lily shook her head as it seemed to lightly force her father to lower his hand from her forehead. "I was just lonely…" she said as Severus gave her a sad look before he stood and held out his hand to her, which she placed her small hand in as he led her over to the couch where they sat down beside each other. Without hesitating, Lily spoke up again. "Because of how it is back to just the two of us. Where we had Harry for a few years, and then Draco and his mother but everyone keeps leaving." Lily said as Severus felt a tug at his heart hearing how Lily was feeling sad at that.

"Lily, even if it is just the two of us, you do know that we are still a whole family." Severus said as he reached out pulling Lily close for a hug. However, when only silence met his question he feared she was even more upset than he thought before he felt her shift to nod ever so slightly. "And you know I love you very much and will always be here for you." Severus said as he felt his daughter nod again, but something still felt like she was not fully happy. As Severus knew that in more ways than one, his daughter was not like other children her own age. Then again he had not really fit in really well when he had been a child, but for different reasons.

"I know, dad. It is just that I cannot help but feel like this will be what is normal. Where every time I get close to anyone that they leave." She said as she leaned against her father and even went so far as to wrap her arms around him. "Because of how even mother left us." Lily said as Severus felt a pang about how Lily did not know the full truth all due to how he had told her a lie on why she did not have a mother. That her mother had left them, leaving Lily in his care which was why he had been distant at first because of how seeing her reminded him of how things had once been.

'I will wait until she is older and able to better understand the full truth before I tell her of her true origins.' Severus had sworn to himself then and every day since. He knew that eventually the truth would come out, that Lily was not his by blood, only by law and even magic he had performed himself to bind them as parent and child. An old magic that he had found discarded in a box down in his lab. One that would allow those of no shared blood to be bound by something even stronger.

"When we go back to Hogwarts, I will need to stay in our quarters until when all of the students arrive in a week?" Lily asked as she leaned back slightly, her words and movement pulling Severus from his thoughts as he looked down at her only to nod.

"Yes, because after what happened right before the end of the last term, I do not want to ever go through that scare again." Severus said since in truth everything had been fine since Twinkle had said Lily was going to send the letter to Harry. That is until Tonks had told him that Lily had not been there only to be found unconscious in the Divination classroom.

"Okay." Lily said as she closed her blue eyes and leaned against her father again. "I just hope that things will go better." Lily whispered as she actually drifted off to sleep.

Severus sat there for a while just holding Lily to him as he knew she had drifted off to sleep, more so due to how her breathing was steady and peaceful. 'Am I doing the right thing hiding some things from her?' he wondered to himself as he knew that eventually certain things would come to light, even about his own past. He just hoped that when those things did that Lily would be able to see past them to see that he was still her father and had made mistakes in his youth.

/

Severus and Lily returned to Hogwarts without any incident, as Twinkle came along with them, intent to make sure that everything went smoothly for them with returning to the school while things were strained. All due to a rule that Dumbledore had told Severus he was imposing. That Lily was only allowed out of the rooms during one week a month when she was known to be safe due to her affliction. Severus had gone off on the older wizard insisting that Lily would never attack anyone and that he would still have Lily with him in classes because he did not wish to treat his child like a prisoner.

'It is like that old fool is trying to force her down the path he had wanted me to keep her from following…' Severus thought to himself as he had returned to his and Lily's quarters in the dungeon. 'She has never hurt anyone so why treat her this way…' Severus wondered to himself as he sat down on the couch.

/

It had taken a while, but Lily slowly accepted that she was not allowed to spend as much time with her friend Tonks as she had wanted. More so due to how the only times they were allowed was during Tonks free period from class unless she was too busy with studying or had homework to do. So for the most part Lily became more and more withdrawn, until one night shortly before Christmas break. They had packed all of their things sending them to the house with Twinkle so that the house elf could get things ready for them to return. During that time Severus had gone through their quarters one final time to make sure that he had gotten all that they would need until they returned shortly after the new year. Satisfied that he had not forgotten anything he headed back to the living room to find Lily sitting on the couch with a sad look on her face as she was staring down at her lap where her pale hands were folded together.

Severus knew full well that she was paler than usual on account that she had not been allowed to be outside that much due to Dumbledore deeming her as to risky to have around the students, and how the full moon was fast approaching. Something that prompted Severus to promise himself and mentally promise his precious child that he would find a cure for her so she could be allowed to lead the life she deserved.

Forcing that from his mind, Severus walked over and knelt before the couch so he was just under his daughter's eye level as he reached out guiding her to look at him with a gentle hand. "You think you are okay for us to travel by Floo?" he asked as Lily just mutely nodded, as only sadness could be seen in her blue eyes.

"Yeah…" Lily said as Severus knew that this Christmas would be especially hard for her due to how it was one year ago when Harry had been ripped away from them and placed where Dumbledore had thought was for the best. "Though why can't we go see Tonks and her family before New Year's Eve?" Lily asked in a small voice that had Severus not been so used to her soft quiet voice he might have not heard her.

For a few brief moments, Severus wrestled with how to answer Lily's question as black eyes stared into blue. After a brief moment, he settled on what he thought was the best way to describe it without just out right telling her the full truth. "It is because you have been showing that you have not been feeling well, and we would not want to spread it to Tonks and her family would we?" Severus asked smiling slightly as he saw something in Lily's eyes almost as though she knew more than what he wished for her to. All due to how his greatest wish was for her to know happiness and never be burdened or limited by an ailment that she did not choose to have but had been born with.

/

Just as Severus had thought, two nights before the full moon Lily had to be confined to her bed with violent convulsions, accompanied by her cries in pain. That night Severus did not sleep at all but gradually gave Lily the wolfsbane potion that helped to slowly calm her cries around three in the morning. Once she was still and silently crying, Severus gathered her up in his arms and held her close to try and soothe her so she could stop crying.

"D-dad?" Lily whispered as she snuggled closer to her father as he held her tight. As soon as she heard him utter a word that let her know that she had his full attention she asked a question that she had been wondering about for a while. "Am I a monster?" Lily asked in a whisper only to feel her father tense as he held her.

"Of course you aren't." Severus urged as he looked down at his child he was holding in his arms. "You are you, my precious child. Never doubt who you are no matter what anyone else says." Severus said as he held her tighter until he felt her finally drift off to sleep. Even though she was asleep, Severus stayed with her until shortly after dawn when he rested her down on her bed only to leave her room and rush down to his lab, missing a book that was laying open on Lily's desk.

/

On Christmas morning Severus was surprised that he was not woken by a happy and hyper child, so he got up from bed and headed across the hall to Lily's room to find that she had at some point that morning or during the night thrown various books and scraps of parchment around her room. Over on her bed she sat up in the furthest corner with her knees drawn up to her chest with her face hidden behind them. Severus was immediately on guard as he slowly approached the bed and sat down on the edge of it, not wanting to force close space with Lily since she was obviously upset. "Lily?" Severus called to her in a gentle voice only for her to flinch and draw further into the corner away from him. "What is wrong?" he asked since he knew that today would be difficult due to it being the year anniversary of when Harry was taken away from them.

"I _**am**_ a monster…" Lily said as her small voice broke while she stayed where she was in the corner as far from her father as she could manage.

Severus stared at her in pure shock for a few moments before he shook his head at her. "You are no such thing!" he said in a firm but gentle voice. "Why would you think such a thing?" he asked near fearful that someone may have said something to her. Something he knew if that was the case there would be hell to pay for anyone who may have told his child that she was anything but an angel. However, when only silence met his ears, Severus inched closer to his daughter as she seemed to withdraw from him even more. "Lily, please tell me." He said as she looked up, her blue eyes having a few flecks of amber in them due to how the full moon was recent and how she was emotionally worked up.

"I am because of how I am a werewolf…" she said as Severus gave her a shocked look all due to how he had fought so hard to keep the truth from her for her own safety and happiness. "Right?" she asked as though to confirm the truth that she knew deep down was true. All due to how even with her being past the full moon, and how she took the wolfsbane potion each month she could still feel the wolf in her fighting.

Severus closed his eyes as he nodded since now there was no denying it. "Yes, but you are only a half werewolf." He said as he could feel his daughters questioning gaze on him as he opened his eyes to look at her with a defeated look on his face. "Which is why when you take the wolfsbane potion every month, it allows you to remain as you are rather than the wolf inside of you taking over, forcing you to become a physical wolf." Severus explained only for Lily to scramble past him and run from the room. "Lily!" Severus called after her as he stood and rushed from the room after her. When he got to the stairs a sudden gust of cold wind hit him hard freezing him in his tracks for a brief second. 'She ran outside!' Severus thought in a panic all due to how Lily had only been in her night dress for protection from the cold. Without any hesitation Severus rushed to pull on his boots as he yelled to Twinkle ordering her to help him find Lily because of how there were several inches of snow on the ground and it was still coming down steadily.

Lily kept running despite the stinging she was feeling from the cold. 'Is it because of what I am that Harry was taken away?' she thought as she continued to run through the trees as fast as she could only to feel the cold start to overtake her more and more. 'Because I am a dangerous beast…' she thought as she kept running until she ran full force into something sending her back into the snow, sending some up only for it to fall back on her as she was long sense past the point of fully feeling the cold.

"You are foolish to risk your health like this." A cold voice said as Lily looked up to see that it was a figure who was wearing a deep cloak so she could not see their face or any of their features. "Especially when you have a very important destiny that must be fulfilled." They said raising a skeletal hand and pointing at her as her blue eyes became distant. "I know you saw it once before, child of the moon." The figure said only to kneel before Lily in the snow as she continued to stare at them while her eyes were distant. "By your next birthday you will begin to awaken." They said as Lily's eyes began to close resulting in her falling back into the snow. "Though as said, I cannot have you die now." The figure said as they raised their arm as red sparks seemed to shoot forth from their sleeve before they vanished leaving Lily alone on the forest floor as the falling snow stuck to her dark hair and melted upon her pale skin.

/

While he had been running around, Severus found himself pleading, begging, praying, that Lily would be alright and that he would find her before she was overtaken by the cold. 'How could she have found out the truth?!' Severus thought in a near panic all due to how he had been so careful and she had not been one to interact with others due to Dumbledore's rule that she was to remain locked away in the dungeons of Hogwarts. With that thought, Severus stopped, wondering if there was something he was missing with how she could have found out, only for him to see red sparks shoot up into the air.

"Lily…" he whispered as he took off running toward where the sparks originated only to find Lily laying in the snow with some snow resting on her small form. Without a second though Severus ran to her and sank to his knees gathering her up in his arms only to feel she was ice cold. "TWINKLE!" Severus called as he rushed to stand only for the small house elf to appear beside him. "Start the fire back at the house and get lots of warm blankets to the couch before the couch. I will be right behind you." He said as without a word the house elf vanished as Severus took off at a full run toward the house. He knew he could try apparating but it would not do much good all due to how there were wards up around his home for his daughter's safety and how he did not wish to risk her resisting going with him and things being made worse.

Only a few minutes later, they were back at the small house as Severus rushed in as Twinkle rushed toward him carrying a large plush blanket that Severus did not accept until he was at the couch to find that near every blanket in the house was sitting there with warmth radiating from them. "Lay the one you have by the hearth and I will wrap her up in it." Severus ordered as he was worried that Lily had not even shown any signs of responding. Once the blanket was in place, Severus gently put Lily down on it and proceeded to wrap her up snugly before lifting her up to cradle in his arms.

"Will the Mistress be alright?" Twinkle asked as she stood close to Severus with a look of pure worry in her haze colored eyes.

"I am sure she will be fine once she wakes." Severus said not taking his eyes off of the pale face of his daughter as he spoke to the worried house elf. Even knowing the reason behind Twinkle's unrivaled loyalty to Lily, Severus felt relief that the house elf had come along with receiving his daughter so that she was never truly alone. But now, he feared, that she would feel more alone than ever before.

It was not for near an hour of constant silence that Severus finally heard a soft sound grace his ears. The soft angelic voice of his daughter calling to him. "D…dad…?" Lily spoke as she slowly opened her eyes to look up at her father with a confused look on her face. "How did I get back here?" she asked as Severus merely held her closer beyond relieved that she had finally woke.

"I found you out in the forest." Severus said as he leaned up but continued to hold Lily close. "Though how did you send red sparks up to let me know where you were?" he asked as Lily gave him a confused look. "You…you didn't send up the sparks?" he asked since he knew that his daughter's magic seemed to show in odd ways when she was upset or even when she was in trouble.

"I didn't do it." Lily said before her blue eyes went wide as she went to shift but she found she was unable to due to how her father had her wrapped in the blanket and was holding her close. "There was a man who was with me." Lily said as Severus gave her a confused look.

"Lily, there was no sign of anyone having been in that area of the forest besides you…" Severus said as he wanted to believe his daughter but from what he had seen unless someone had been there and then used a spell to cover their tracks or some other method, there had been no one there. "I am just glad that I found you before you froze to death." Severus said only for Lily to look away from him. "Lily…" Severus said in a near pleading voice due to the distant look he saw on his daughter's face.

"It would have been better hand I frozen…" Lily started only for Severus to shift and hold her tighter. "D-dad…can't…breath…" she whispered but her father did not loosen his hold on her.

"Don't ever think that again!" Severus ordered, almost pleading. "You know that me, Twinkle, Tonks and her family would be very sad should something happen to you. And I am sure that Harry is counting down the days until he can see you again." Severus said as Lily gave him a questioning look since in truth she doubted what her father said in that sense. "I promise that even with what you were born as, you are not a monster. You are the best thing to have ever come into my life, and you know I love you more than anything and would do anything to insure that you are happy." Severus said as Lily snaked her arms out from the blanket and wrapped her arms around him as best she could from where she was in his arms. Only for a few seconds later, Severus heard a soft voice whisper to him.

"All I want or ever need is you, dad."

**A/N:** I am so sorry for the delay in this story being updated. I have been very busy lately and have not gotten much time to work on my writing. I hope everyone likes this chapter, I want to add that Lily is FAR from fully accepting that she is a half werewolf, just that at the moment she is calmer and seems to be accepting it. There will be more with her steps to accepting it as time passes since this story still has a lot to tell. I am still planning to do the special but it may very well be late like the one for last year was. I am still working very hard on the updates for Blood Oath: Destiny, Second Chance, and Eternal Star. I am hoping to have the special up by this weekend and then the stories updated in the next week or at least one or two more updates scattered between the stories. Now I want to thank everyone who has been reading, favoriting, and following the story thus far. I also want to thank Harrypottercatlover who was a guest who reviewed chapter six and also reviewed the last chapter. I hope this chapter is to everyone's liking and that everyone will enjoy the special when I get it up. Until next time!


	10. Spring Always Comes

**Spring Always Comes**

After the harsh Christmas break, Severus returned to Hogwarts with Lily in tow as she seemed even more distant. He knew that she was still coming to terms with the truth about herself, that she was not exactly human. They had returned to the school by Floo only for Lily to insist that she was wishing to be alone, something that Severus hesitantly allowed. 'How much more can she take?' he thought to himself as he watched the retreating back of his daughter until she went into her room and closed her door. 'She starts school in just over a year and a half and yet she is being made to not even know what it is to let anyone in besides me.' He thought as he slipped from their quarters in the dungeons only to head to find the insufferable wizard that seemed determined to insure his daughter was suffering.

It did not take Severus long to get to where he was wishing to be, though he had a look of pure annoyance on his face by the time he got to the stone gargoyle guarding the headmaster's office. Through barely parted lips, he uttered the password as it stepped aside revealing the spiral stairs. Without any hesitation he started up the stairs only to barge through the door at the top without the curtesy of a knock. As soon as his eyes fell on the older wizard he seemed to glide over to the desk only to put his hands balled into fists on the desk while facing the older wizard who had his usual smug expression.

"Lily knows the truth. She knows that she is a half werewolf." Severus ground out as he glared at the older wizard who did not seem phased in the slightest by the news.

"It could not be kept from her forever. Though I must admit that I had thought you would wait until she was older to tell her the truth." Dumbledore said only for Severus to give the older wizard a look of pure loathing.

"I didn't tell her! She figured it out on her own!" Severus said in a low tone. While he spoke barely above a whisper, anger saturated every single word that he spoke.

"It cannot be helped. You allow her access to books that held the truth rather than keeping it from her." Dumbledore said as any sparkle that had been in his blue eyes were gone as they were now regarding Severus in a hard manor. "However, if you believe now that she knows that she will be a danger to anyone in this school I will have to enforce that she not be allowed from your quarters for any reason." Dumbledore said as Severus stared at him in shock and frustration evident on his face.

"Lily would not harm anyone!" Severus ground out after a brief moment as he had been stunned into silence. "You should know full well since you have seen how she is and that she is the gentlest child without any ill intent or ability to even conceive of anything against another."

"You are speaking as a biased parent." Dumbledore said earning a glare from the dark professor who stood before his desk. "Lily is exceedingly capable of what you fail to see her as able to do. She was born a dark creature that when turned by the moon gives itself over to instinct and has no control." Dumbledore said as he saw a forthcoming protest from the younger man but decided to not allow him to interrupt at the moment. "You know it is true. She is one destined to either bring about the downfall of everything that is good in this world or she will be a tool to be used by the chosen one."

"I do not care! You are setting her up to be a tool for those who would seek to bring about nothing but an age of darkness for the entire wizarding world!" Severus said in a frustrated tone due to how Dumbledore had been the one to stress that Lily know love and acceptance only to be the one keeping her from knowing it.

"My decision is final." Dumbledore said in a tone showing he would not budge on the matter.

/

For some time, Lily refused to come from her room even when Tonks had come to visit, Lily only spoke to her friend through the door. Insisting all along that Tonks was better distancing herself from Lily, that she was a monster. Even though Tonks always insisted that Lily was not, the young girl refused to listen. It was after one such visit, where Tonks had been allowed in the dungeon quarters to try and coax Lily out of her room that she approached the potions master.

"Um…Professor Snape, why is it that Lily is refusing to listen to me telling her that I don't see her as a monster?" Tonks asked nervously as she stood facing the dark professor while he sat on the couch facing the fire with a thick potions book balanced on his lap. "If it is not too intrusive for me to be asking this." Tonks rushed to say due to the cold look that Severus had given her.

"It is something that does not concern you and you do not need to know." Severus said after a moment of tense silence. When he looked to his student he saw a forthcoming protest at what he had said but he shook his head at her. "It is best that you not know the truth, for Lily's sake." He said since he was fearful that Tonks would turn her back on Lily if she found out what she was.

/

By early March, Lily started to show just how torn up she was about what she was. Severus would often wake in the middle of the night hearing her throwing things in her room or her crying out of frustration at what she was born as. The only nights that he found it to be quiet was when the full moon was fast approaching and Lily was confined to her bed unable to do much besides try to rest.

'How many more must she go through?' Severus thought to himself as he sat on the edge of Lily's bed as she was fitful in her sleep. He knew the wolf part of her was raging at how the potion kept it at bay each month and even with how Severus gave her the potion leading up to the full moon it never seemed to help much besides allowing her to remain as she was. Though as he looked down at Lily he saw some tears falling down her face only for him to gently bring his hand up to wipe away the tears, something that led to Lily slightly opening her bright blue eyes to look up at her father.

"D-dad…it hurts…" she said only to bunch up beside him as he rested a hand on her back rubbing circles to try and sooth her pain.

"I know it does, Lil." Severus whispered as he tried his best to will the pain away from his child so that she could once again know happiness. "I promise I will find a way to take the pain away." He said as Lily shook her head at him as he gave her a confused look. "Why would you not want me to take the pain away?" he asked since he hated to see her suffering like this.

"Pain is all I feel anymore…take that away and there will be nothing…" Lily said as Severus lifted her up off of her bed and cradled her in his lap.

"Please do not think that way. You know that is not true." Severus pleaded as he wished he could get through to his daughter since she was all but a prisoner at the moment with how Dumbledore did not let her venture from their rooms. Though in that moment a plan formed in his mind that he knew he would need to act on very soon to insure that he got through to his daughter before things got worse.

/

It was not until April after the full moon had passed that Severus managed to go through with his plan, which in his opinion was not a moment too soon. The weekend was planned to be a Hogsmeade visit, so he had pulled Tonks to the side after the last potions class that week to present his idea as she seemed to be all for it. Expressing that she missed Lily and was worried about the young girl she had come to see as a little sister she had never had.

So on Saturday morning, Severus woke early only to instruct Twinkle to fetch a light breakfast for himself and Lily to have after he got her up. Once the house elf had vanished with the usual small pop, Severus adjusted his house robe that was a deep green, a nice departure from his usual black attire. Though he did not think much on that as he left his room only to head to Lily's. Bringing up his right hand he knocked lightly only to get no response from his daughter. "Lily?" he called as he reached for the door only to open it ever so slightly to see that she was still sound asleep on her bed. 'The full moon this last time took more out of her than usual…I just hope she will be up to this since she has not been outside our quarters since we returned from the Christmas holiday.' He thought to himself as he went over to her bed, watching her sleep for a brief moment.

"Lily?" he called gently before he reached out lightly shaking her arm as he got a mumbled response as she shifted to be on her back allowing Severus to see that she had no color at all in her skin. Something that caused a very drastic contrast when compared with her raven black hair that she had been growing out a bit that was now easily past her shoulder blades. "Time to wake up." Severus said as he could not help but smile when he heard Lily mumble asking for five more minutes. "Sorry, but no five more minutes today." He said as Lily opened her blue eyes to look at her father with a look of curiosity.

"Why not?" she asked only to yawn. "You said I am already ahead on my studies." She said as it was true, Severus had kept her studying during her imprisonment as he had come to call it to himself. Sure she was not old enough to study magic yet, but that did not mean he did not aim to teach her basics that every child should know before entering Hogwarts, things that even muggles knew. Reading, math, and writing.

Those three he had found she excelled in, something he attributed to how she spent endless hours reading over the books for those subjects and even practicing them to the point of near no end. Where to give her even a small break from those studies, Severus had taken to having her help with some basic potions that he might be working on more than he had ever before just to insure that she remained occupied and trying to keep her happy.

"It is a surprise." Severus said as Lily gave him a confused look before she yawned again only to reach up and rub her eyes as she sat up. "So get around." He said with a smile as he turned to walk from her room. "And be sure you dress warm." He said as he glanced back at Lily to see she was looking at him with pure curiosity before he walked out of her room and shut the door.

Severus had gone about getting ready himself, a quick shower then getting dressed in his usual attire since he was to be one of the professors going with the students to the village today. He usually didn't but today he had volunteered so that he could take Lily with him. Once he was dressed in his usual black long sleeve shirt pants and matching shoes he walked out of his room only to hear the shower from the bathroom next to Lily's room as he could not help but feel slightly relieved that she was getting around without too much fuss. So he went to the kitchen to find that Twinkle had already placed out some coffee for him along with some hot chocolate for Lily.

'If it were not for that house elf we might have fallen apart after Harry was taken from us…' he thought to himself as he picked up the mug of coffee and sipped at it. 'Though even with how Twinkle was the house elf for the Lupin family before…why would she be so determined and dedicated to Lily and not Levi? Because both of them are Elizabeth's children so why Lily…?' Severus thought to himself not even noticing that the water from the shower had turned off during his pondering, or that the door had opened to the bathroom. At least not until he felt a small tug at his sleeve as he glanced to see that it was Lily.

He noted the faint flush in her pale face meaning she had taken a hot shower causing a hint of a small fever on her face but he knew she would be fine. "You almost ready?" he asked noting that she was wearing jeans and a casual shirt that matched her eyes as her long black hair now fell close to her mid back since it seemed she was wishing to grow it out a little. She merely nodded at him as Severus turned and put down his coffee mug and handed her the cup of hot chocolate. "Drink this and I will be right back." He said as he walked from the room only to turn and look to see that Lily was doing as he said with sipping the hot chocolate from the mug. 'I want to see you smile again from the heart not just to try and put up a front…' Severus thought to himself as he turned away and went to Lily's room to find a blue cloak that matched her dress in her trunk. He picked it up only to leave her room and head back to the living room to see Lily just outside of the kitchen putting the cup down on the table.

"Done." She said as she looked toward her father with a smile on her face but he could tell that she was not really smiling but just pretending. Though Severus let it slide while he walked over and moved the cloak around Lily's shoulders while she gave him a questioning look. "Why do I need to wear my cloak?"

"We are going outside; you need to get some sun because you are paler than even me." Severus said with a small smile on his face since it was true. Lily was becoming unbelievably pale due to her being locked in their dungeon quarters.

Lily looked at her father with confusion evident in her wide blue eyes as she was about to ask why they were going outside only for her father to turn slightly and hold out his hand to her only for Lily to reach up and slip her small hand into his. She looked toward him as they walked over to the door and out into the corridor as the door shut behind them. "Won't we get in trouble for me being out?" she asked nervously glancing around almost as though she expected the headmaster to come out from behind every corner they passed and scold her father for allowing the dangerous monster out.

"I do not care if anyone says anything. You need fresh air and I will simply curse anyone who dares stand in my way of taking you outside." Severus said in a firm tone as he tightened his hand around his daughter's ever so slightly as they got to the Entrance hall as Severus merely turned, leading his daughter towards the vast doors only for a voice he did not have the patience to deal with sounded from the other side of the hall.

"Severus!" an angered yet calm voice called as Severus stopped and turned only to pull Lily over behind him so that she was hidden from the sight of the insufferable old man. "I told you that Lily is not allowed out of your quarters for the safety of the students." He said only for Severus to scowl at him.

"She is not a danger to anyone, as it is nowhere near the next full moon and if she does not get some fresh air soon she may well be worse off." Severus said in a low tone as his other hand slipped into the pocket of his cloak gripping his wand since he was not about to back down from how he saw it as his daughter had every right to be outside.

Before anything more could be said the sound of someone tripping and hitting the floor met the ears of the three standing in the hall. When all eyes fell on the one that had caused the noise it was to see that it was none other than Tonks, who had apparently been running over only to catch her foot on the edge of the staircase leading to her falling to the ground before she got up as though nothing had happened only to run over. In doing so she completely ignored the headmaster standing not too far from Severus and her young friend. "LILY!" Tonks yelled as she leaned down abruptly once she was behind the Potions Master to pull her friend into a tight hug that Lily happily returned after a brief moment of hesitation.

"Now if you will excuse us, headmaster." Severus said as he turned only to usher his daughter and her friend out through the doors to the grounds as Lily quickly brought her hand up to shield her eyes that were no longer used to the light due to how it was dark down in the dungeons.

"Was it always so bright outside?" Lily asked as she was squinting behind her hand that was shielding her eyes ever so slightly from the sunlight that was near blinding to her.

"No, it is just that you have been cooped up for far too long." Severus said with a smile as Tonks skipped ahead only to look back as she seemed to be of the set of mind that if she was happy and full of energy it might help revive the Lily that she had first become friends with. The girl that was always smiling even if there was sadness hidden in the smile. "Today we are going down to the village just past the grounds of the school." Severus said as Lily gave him a confused look.

"Hogsmeade?" Lily asked as Severus nodded at her.

"Meaning I get to treat you to some butterbeer!" Tonks said in an excited tone before she tripped falling backwards as Lily pulled away from her father and rushed over to her friend who was still smiling ear to ear and laughing as she sat on the ground. "Guess that rock there just jumped out." Tonks said only to hear a small laugh as she halted in her own laugh as she looked to the source of it to see that Lily was laughing and that it was actually a genuine laugh.

Once Tonks got up from the ground she walked on Lily's other side holding one hand while Severus was on the opposite holding her other hand. Something that Severus knew was a first for his daughter. All due to how this was usually how a small family would walk, with the parents on each side and the child in the middle. Though he had never experienced it himself all due to how his childhood had not been one of any closeness from family due to various reasons. He did not linger on that thought as soon they were leaving the grounds and walking down the path toward the village as he allowed his daughter to walk ahead of him with her friend.

The day had gone by far too fast, as all too soon it was evening and the sun was beginning to set. Severus had walked with the two back up to the school only for him to dismiss himself and Lily from Tonks so they could return to their quarters to eat dinner because of how Lily was still not allowed to be in there even for meals. So they returned to their quarters in the dungeons as the whole way Lily was talking nonstop about how much fun she had during her day out with her friend, something that made Severus beyond happy. "I am glad you enjoyed yourself." Severus said as they got back to the quarters in the dungeon as he did not hesitate to call for Twinkle and ask the small house elf to bring them a simple light dinner and some pumpkin juice. During that time, Severus had grabbed some papers to grade once they had finished dinner as he sat down on the couch placing the papers down on the table before him only to feel something to his side. Looking down he saw that it was Lily. She had gotten up on the couch only to wrap her small arms around him in a hug as he brought up one arm and draped it around her holding her close.

It was not to long before their dinner appeared on the table as they moved from the couch and went to sit at the table to eat only for Lily to launch into a near over excited recount of when they had been in the joke store only for Tonks to accidentally set off one of the many magical objects on display causing a chain reaction of events. Then how she had loved the way the butterbeer tasted since it had been her first time trying it, and even how her and Tonks had a field day going through the sweet shop. All due to how even though Lily was not one with much of a sweet tooth she was always fascinated with how many different candies there were.

Once they were done with dinner Severus set to grading papers while Lily curled up beside him reading a book, one of many he had deemed to be far to advanced for her but he did not wish to have another incident like when she caused the book shelf to explode. Though glancing at which book it was out of the corner of his eye he saw that it was one about werewolves. Sighing, Severus put down the paper he was grading as he reached out for the book only for Lily to grip it tightly.

"Lily…" Severus said in a slightly stern yet worried tone. "I told you that I do not want you reading those kinds of books." He said going to take it again only for Lily to pull it away from his hand yet again. "Lily Snape…" he said in a low tone.

"I know you do not want me to, but…" Lily hugged the book close to her chest as she looked away for a second before looking to her father, all hints of the smile from earlier were gone. "I want to know more about what I am even if I am only a half werewolf to insure when I start school in just over a year that I will not be a danger to others in the same year as me." Lily said as she thought if she had an understanding of her curse that she could control it.

"That may be, but there is no reason to learn about them when you do not even turn into a wolf thanks to the potion you take every month to retain being a human during the full moon." He said only for Lily to relent and allow her father to pull the book from her hands. "And there is no reason for you to concern yourself with it when you know that I will one day cure you so that you can live the life you deserve." Severus said once he had placed the book on the far side of the table before turning to face his daughter more on the couch.

"But there is more to it isn't there?" she asked looking at her father with a questioning gaze due to how she was searching for an answer that she knew may not be there. "With how I am not one who is able to be around others despite how I am not one who goes through the transformation?" Lily asked only for Severus to reach out and pull her close in a tight hug. "Dad?" Lily said in confusion due to how she knew her father did not like this subject but it was a very pressing matter since with each day she was getting closer and closer to becoming an official student of the school.

"Try not to worry on that for now." Severus said as he leaned back looking toward an enchanted clock to the side of the room to see that it was already getting late. "Why don't you go to bed." He said as Lily nodded only to give him one more hug before standing from the couch and heading to her room as he soon saw the light from her room go out meaning she had gone to sleep. "Twinkle." Severus said in a low tone only for the small house elf to appear before him.

"Yes, Master Severus?" she asked looking up at the man as she could tell he was in a bit of a foul mood.

"Stay here and make sure Lily does not leave. I will be back shortly." Severus said as he stood from the couch only to storm from the dungeon quarters, his black cloak billowing behind him as he went to the door only pausing long enough to open it and close it behind himself as he headed to the headmaster's office as there was something that had been concerning him for a while and he was wishing to find out for sure if his suspicions were correct or not. More so with how the old man had acted upon seeing Lily out of the dungeon quarters earlier.

It felt like it took near no time at all for Severus to find himself approaching the gargoyle that guarded the entrance to the office only for it to spring to life before he could even utter the password, meaning that the headmaster was expecting him. 'Best to get this over with.' Severus thought as he headed up the spiral stairs to the single door at the top as he did not even bother to knock but just let himself in as his eyes fell on the infuriating older wizard. 'Some may say he is the greatest wizard of the age, but he is not even close!' Severus thought darkly all due to how the man was determined to constantly alienate his daughter from others.

"Ah, Severus." Dumbledore said while sitting behind his desk with his hands folded up before himself while the candle light of the room reflected off of his half-moon spectacles as well as his long white hair and beard. "I had expected you a little sooner than this." He said only for Severus to storm over in a fluid motion as he was soon standing before the desk of the headmaster. "I assume you are wondering why I acted as such earlier today.

"Yes." Severus said in a low tone that would have sent any of his students running for cover, more so since he was glaring at the headmaster in a way that had actually led to a young Hufflepuff student, he could not remember her name, actually breaking down in tears.

"It is because of how as you surely are aware, Lily is a danger to everyone, even herself. So that is why I told you that she is to remain locked away in your quarters in the dungeon." Dumbledore said as though it were obvious but the look he saw on the younger wizards face did not cause him to waver all due to how he could be just as stern when it came to having things his way. Something he was determined to have happen because things were already set in motion and he was determined to insure that they remained in the course that they were. "So it is best that even when she starts school that she not be allowed to live in the dorms, but will remain living with you in your quarters no matter the house she should be sorted into." Dumbledore said as Severus looked beyond shocked before the anger set in.

Severus' dark eyes narrowed into dangerous slits as he was beyond livid at the audacity of the headmaster. "I told you before that Lily poses no threat to anyone! So why do you insist on forcing her to not have any connections with anyone when you yourself said should she be denied connections with people that she would become a tool for those with dark intentions to use her with ease!" Severus ground out since he was just wishing to protect his child and at the moment it was looking like he would need to protect her from the man before him.

"I have my reasons. Now if I am not mistaken, you have classes to prepare for since you have a full schedule in the morning." Dumbledore said dismissing Severus as the younger man continued to glare for a moment before he turned and left the office not noticing the slightly hard near cold look in Dumbledore's eyes as he watched the younger professor leave the office. Nor did he hear when Dumbledore spoke to his phoenix, Fawkes. "Not much longer and the pieces will begin to be in place." Dumbledore said before he got out his wand tapping it on his desk as a secret area opened to reveal an old looking orb that had swirling mist within it with a triangular eye etched onto it. "Very soon…" he said as a smile tugged at the corners of his face before the secret compartment closed yet again as though it was never there.

**/**

**A/N:** I looked back at the previous chapter and realized a huge typo. Where I put that it had been a year since Lily received the letter from the Weasley's but in truth it was that same summer. So this is still in the 1989-1990 school year, so it is still one more year before Lily, Harry and Draco start school. I want to take a moment to thank NatNicole (who reviewed as a guest), Harrypottercatlover, and Toraach for their reviews. I really appreciate your reviews and hope that each of you thought that this chapter was worth the wait since it has been since December that I updated. And I was wanting to set up a small poll for people to answer in reviews. Which house do you think Lily will go into? Should Draco still go to Slytherin since he is different from his cannon counterpart?


	11. Awakening

**Awakening**

The term had come to an end, meaning that there was now only one more full term left before Lily would become a student. Though with that realization, another cruel one had dawned on the child, that after this next term was completed her friend, Tonks, would be graduating. She had tried to put off noticing that, but it became more and more of a problem she was being forced to face all due to how Lily knew that once she was allowed to become a student that things would barely change. All due to her being a werewolf, even if her transformation was held back thanks to the wolfsbane potion that her father gave her before and during each full moon.

And now it was less than a month until the start of the next term, with Lily's tenth birthday fast approaching. So Severus had contacted Narcissa to invite her along with her son Draco, and of course Tonks to the party. It was planned to be another simple party for Lily. All due to how at the moment, Severus knew that she would be dealing with the full moon right before her birthday and again right after the start of the term. So Severus had been busy preparing the potion once he got the confirmations that the guests would be there, while Lily had been confined to bed all due to how the fever had set in much worse this time. So each night from the first leading up to the full moon that was slated to be at its peak by the sixth, Severus sat by his daughter's side as she was burning up with a dangerous fever and her body convulsing from fits. Something he found to be common due to how the wolf in her was fighting to be allowed to come out but he refused to allow that to happen since if it did, it would only prove that she was a possible danger to others.

"D-dad…." Lily panted as the latest convulsion had finished as she looked toward her father as he shifted to sit on the edge of her bed and lift her up and cradle her. "Something is different…" she asked as the pain intensified yet again as she started to cry out ever so slightly only for her father to hold her closer.

"I do not know why it would…" Severus whispered as he hated that he could not give her an answer to what she was asking because he did not have the faintest clue. And the only one that might know, he would never allow the man near Lily so long as he had a say in it. 'He forfeited every claim he has to be her father when he turned his back to her when she needed a loving parent after losing her mother.'

The days seemed to blur together for Severus up to the night of the sixth. All due to how each night he got less and less sleep because of how Lily was up crying and screaming in pain from the upcoming full moon and how she kept insisting something felt different inside of her. Each night Severus feared it meant her body was developing immunity to the potion and that meant she would be forced to go through the transformation with the upcoming full moon.

It was proven that if that were the case, it was not to happen that month since the night of the sixth came and Lily was riddled with a worse fever than she had been for the past few nights and the pain she was in seemed to increase. It was not until around dawn when Severus slumped against the side of his daughter's bed, since as the full moon set she was finally calming in her screaming and crying in pain. Weakly, Severus turned to look toward Lily's sleeping face that was paler than usual besides a slight tint to her cheeks from the fever she was fighting. He remained like that for several moments before he forced himself up to look toward Lily, even reaching out to brush away a stray lock of her black hair that now was grown to near her waist.

'I wish I could do more to help you…' Severus thought as worry lined his features as he looked at his daughter while she was resting. 'I was so worried that this time you would break and that even with the potion that the wolf in you would take control.' He forced himself up as he leaned over his daughter to place a gentle kiss on her forehead before he slowly made his way across the hall to his room where he collapsed on his bed. He was asleep long before his head hit the pillow.

/

By the tenth, Lily was able to be up and around without needing Severus or Twinkle helping her to get around as the amber in her eyes had vanished leaving only the clear blue. However, Lily was still limited and since she had not regained her strength. So the few times she went outside to sit on the porch or lay in the grass, Severus or Twinkle were always close by to insure if she wished to get up and walk back inside that she did not risk falling.

For the next two days leading up to Lily's birthday, Severus remained by her side as much as possible all due to how she had said something that had been bugging him. That she had felt like something felt different, and he was fearful that it meant that the wolf was fighting more and more against being restrained by the properties of the potion.

It was so far proving not to be the case, since she seemed to be slowly getting back to normal. Though Severus knew that during her birthday the following day that she would still be recovering so he hoped that everyone would be understand that she would not be herself and not able to run and play to much since he knew it generally took near two weeks at times for her strength to return to her. 'What is going to happen when she starts school?' Severus found himself thinking after he had put Lily to bed and was sitting in the living room on the couch facing the fire. 'She will fall behind in her studies, and how that insufferable old fool is insisting that Lily be kept away from the rest of the students due to her being what he calls a danger.' Severus clenched his right hand into a fist as it rested on the arm of the couch. 'If any werewolf to step foot in the school was dangerous it was Lupin!' Severus thought in frustration at the fact that the one who had actually fathered Lily had been allowed to live the life of a normal student when he could not resist changing like Lily could with the potion.

'Even if she is to be kept locked up in our dungeon quarters, I will do everything I can to allow her to live a normal life once she is a student at Hogwarts.' Severus thought to himself as he watched the flames slowly start to die until he rose and waved his wand putting out the flames completely before he headed to his room to retire for the night since he knew that the guests would be there early the following morning to get things ready. Though he had already sent a letter to Narcissa to explain that Lily was still recovering so her stamina was still not back up to what it would normally be. Insisting that Lily had a weak immune system and was prone to fall ill frequently.

/

That night Lily was sound asleep until the stroke of midnight when her dream shifted from one of her and her father enjoying time outside in the sunlight, to the bit she had seen in the crystal ball just over a year earlier. Where Lily was standing in a vast hall before a stone throne that was raised up with two others, one on each side. However, Lily could only tell that she was the one in the center even though she was not really standing there because she was suspended, floating, above what was going on.

The two on either side of the version of her standing on the ground were each carrying different objects. The one on her left holding what looked like a wand, and the other some kind of cloak while in the middle it looked like she was holding some kind of stone. As she continued to watch a hooded figure appeared before them as each stepped forward in turn presenting the object they held only for a triangular eye to appear behind them as with each object a part of the eye began to glow…

Lily woke with a start gasping for breath as her blue eyes were wide in horror at what she had seen only to feel something stir within her. She brought her hand up to before her heart as she gripped at the front of her nightgown thinking that something was not right but she could not place why. 'I feel…something…' Lily thought as she closed her eyes trying to calm herself down as she debating going to her father about the nightmare she had, but she knew that tonight was one of the first nights he was able to get sleep since before the full moon. So she remained there drawing her knees up to her chest and wrapping her arms around them as she heard a voice call her name.

"Lily…" a female voice that Lily did not know spoke as she leaned up slightly and looked toward the sound only to see a figure wearing a deep hooded cloak. At the sight of the figure, Lily screamed in terror.

Severus had been sound asleep dreaming of peaceful times with his daughter, more so of times before when she had always been smiling and happy. However, after only a few hours of sleep, Severus woke due to hearing Lily screaming in her room. 'Lily!' Severus thought in a panic as he rushed to grab his wand from his nightstand rushing from the room not caring that he was only in night pants and no shirt, as he raced from his room and across the hall to Lily's room as he turned on the light glancing around. When he saw nothing and no one he lowered his wand from where it had been, with him ready to send curses at whoever or whatever had scared his child. "Lily…" Severus said in a weary yet worried tone as he walked over to her bed and sat his wand down on her nightstand only to reach for her as he noticed she was staring, wide eyed, toward the corner on the far side of the room. Almost as though she did not even register that he was there right in front of her. "Lillian!" he called to her as she seemed to finally snap out of it as her eyes came back into focus as she stared, wide eyed, at her father.

"Dad!" Lily cried as she shifted and threw herself against him wrapping her arms around him holding him as though he were a life line.

Severus had been shocked for a brief second when Lily had thrown herself against him, but once he recovered he brought his arms up around her holding her close. "Did you have a nightmare?" Severus asked in a whisper as he held Lily close with one hand while his right reached up resting on the back of her soft black hair.

"I…I don't know. I was asleep and then I woke and there was someone in my room, right over there." Lily said shifting her right hand to point to the corner. Drawing her father's attention to the corner only to see that there was no one there now.

"There is no one there." Severus said as he wished to believe his daughter but he did not see anyone there.

Lily leaned back from her father and looked at him with tears in her eyes all because of how he did not believe her that someone had been there. Though something inside her told her that she would not be able to convince him that there had been someone there. "I-I guess it was just part of my dream I was having." Lily said before she forced a smile toward her father. "You should go get more rest, dad." Lily said as she kept smiling to try and assure her father that she would be alright.

Severus was skeptical due to how he could tell there was something behind the smile but he dismissed it all because of how there was not much he could do when he did not see anyone in the corner or anywhere in the room for that matter. Though deep down he got the feeling that something was just beginning, a feeling that he forced away as he spoke. "Should we push back celebrating your birthday?" he asked since Lily was looking a little pale again.

"No. I want to see Tonks and Draco." She said since she knew in truth when Narcissa came with the two that she would spend the day visiting with her dad while the kids spent time together.

"Alright, though do you want some Dreamless Sleep Potion?" he asked since he was worried if she went back to sleep now while she was worked up that it might cause her to have yet another nightmare and that she would not sleep at all. Once he saw Lily nod, Severus left the room to go down to a makeshift lab he had down in the basement to get one of the fresh ones he had made in preparation for any time he or Lily might need them. He carried it up to her room and proceeded to help her drink it only to see it take effect almost instantly as her eyes began to close as she was asleep before she could drink even half of the vial.

/

In the circular office of the headmaster, the old wizard sat with the orb out on his desk watching it intently as the hour of midnight came closer and even passed as he was waiting for something he had been anticipating for years. When he saw a faint flash and a triangular eye appeared only for the circle to illuminate, his lips curled up slightly in a mix between a smirk and a smile. "Finally…"

/

Later that morning, around ten, the guests arrived for the small party that was to take place that afternoon. Severus had gone into Lily's room just an hour before to find that Twinkle had already woke the birthday girl and was getting her dressed in a light summer dress that looked overly girly. Something Severus could not help but smile at since he was sure that Lily would insist on not wearing it for long because of how she was one to love running around and climbing trees.

When the guests arrived, Tonks came crashing through first. Somehow the girl had managed to come tumbling out of the fire, trip over the table before the couch and topple over the couch, knocking it backwards. Severus seriously wondered about that girl at times due to how she was unnaturally clumsy, yet it did not phase Lily in the slightest since it seemed when Tonks would get back up after a trip and still be grinning ear to ear that it would lead to Lily once again being happy. Though as Narcissa came through after Draco, Tonks was hugging Lily only for a frantic Twinkle to insist that Tonks not do so until she had rid herself of the soot due to how Lily's light blue and white dress was now a dull gray and murky blue from the soot on her dress.

"Calm down, Twinkle." Severus said with a sigh as Draco ran over to hug Lily while Severus looked toward Narcissa. "You want to help me with moving the last few things to the yard for the picnic?" he asked as Narcissa nodded leaving the three children with the frantic house elf.

It did not take long to finish setting things up, it was only difficult when Twinkle had insisted that Lily wear a sun hat to help protect her from the sun all because the child was unnaturally pale. Not just because of the full moon that had passed, but with only being allowed outside when home, her skin had become even more fair, something that stood out against her long black hair that was all down at the moment. Though after a bit Severus had insisted that if she got a little more sun it would not hurt resulting in a fuming house elf popping out of sight.

After lunch Narcissa sat on the blanket visiting with Severus while Tonks, Draco and Lily were running around playing a muggle game of tag. Though every time Lily was the one doing the chasing, Tonks would run much slower since Severus had told the older girl that Lily had been ill just days before. Soon it was time for Lily to open presents as they had moved back inside due to how Lily had started to show signs of being worn down. Draco had gotten Lily lots of stationary insisting that way they could keep in touch more. Narcissa had gotten Lily a book about potions since she had figured it would be best that Lily learn to brew potions early more so since her father was a master at the art. Tonks got Lily lots of candy (much to the displeasure of her aunt and professor) as well as a book about Charms and Transfiguration.

"And here I had hoped to get you away from books…" Severus grumbled slightly since it seemed that was all his daughter was allowed to do when they were at Hogwarts, at least for the time being since this would be the last year that she would be kept locked away in the dungeons. For in one year she would be sorted into a house and start making more friends her own age.

Shortly after Narcissa had left with Draco and Tonks in tow as Draco made Lily promise to write to him as often as she could. Lily had gone to bed not long after that due to how she insisted to her dad that she was just exhausted from all the excitement of the day. Mainly due to how she was not used to that level of excitement after how she was kept locked away from the world. Though Severus decided to keep her awake a few moments longer as he slipped down into his lab to get his gift for Lily which he hoped would make a good companion. A few moments later he came back up into the living room only to sit down a covered cage on the table.

"What is it?" Lily asked her blue eyes wide with curiosity.

"It is your birthday gift." Severus said with a smile as he sat down on the couch beside Lily only to nudge her a little. "Go ahead." He urged in a kind tone as Lily inched forward only to soon be knelt between the table and the couch. She stared at it for a moment longer before she brought up her pale hands to lift the blanket away only for a soft mew to be heard.

"A kitten?" Lily asked in surprise since she had once asked her father for one but he had refused.

"Yes, so that you won't be alone anymore. Even when I am teaching classes." He said as Lily turned and threw herself at her father as he brought his arms up after a brief second to hug her. "Why don't you let the kitten out and start to get to know him?"

Lily leaned back and nodded before she shifted away from her father to let the kitten out of the carrier cage it was in as it hesitantly came out onto the floor as it looked around with wide clear blue eyes. "He is a cute black cat." Lily said as she held out her hand to the kitten to sniff as it only did so for a second before moving closer and rubbing against her hand purring.

"What are you going to name him?" Severus asked as he was slightly worried on the name that his daughter would pick since she probably had picked up names from all of the books that she had read.

"Xander." She said with a smile as Severus forced a smile thinking his thought had been right. If he had his guess it was a play at the name Alexander since it sounded like that name but with out Alex before it.

**A/N:** Okay, I know this was one of the shortest chapters of the story but this was a chapter I planned to not be very long from the beginning. Things are starting to happen. Anyone have any guesses on what is happening? Who was the figure that Lily saw? What is Dumbledore up to? So many questions that will only be answered in time as the story progresses. I want to thank Harrypottercatlover and NatNicole for reviewing the last chapter. I hope that you both enjoyed this chapter. I want to dedicate this chapter to the two of you along with everyone who is following this story and everyone who has favorited, even if you only recently started. I will try to update again soon!


	12. Surprise

**Surprise**

Severus had returned to Hogwarts along with Lily, Twinkle and the newest addition to the family, the small black kitten that had been dubbed Xander. Sure Severus still had reservations about keeping his teaching post even once they were back in their dungeon quarters, but Lily had insisted it was fine, that she just had to make it through the next year and then she would be allowed to be around kids her own age. Something that surprised Severus. All due to how his daughter was oddly strong despite her only being ten years old. So during the week before the term started, he had gone to the staff meetings only for Filius, Pomona, and Minerva to start an interesting topic of discussion.

"So Severus." Filius said as he was sitting on a few books that he had placed on his seat so he could see over the table and easily take part in the discussions that had taken part during the meeting that had ended only moments before.

"Yes?" Severus asked as he had hoped his colleagues would not hold him up due to how Lily had been alone for the whole day and he had promised he would be back in their quarters to eat dinner with her and to spend time with her before and after.

"Which house do you think your daughter will be in next year?" Filius asked with a smile due to how he had not seen much of Lily but he had at times apparently asked Tonks about the child to find out how things were going. "She seems to be a sure one for Ravenclaw next term." He said as he chuckled even more so when the dark haired younger professor gave him a startled look. Though before Severus could speak, Minerva put in her own opinion.

"She could also easily end up in my house. From what I have seen the child seldom fears very much." Minerva said as she had her usual stern look on her face as she thought that it was amusing how she was not the only one out of the four heads who had wondered at least on occasion where the daughter of Severus would be sorted to.

At that point Severus shook his head. "I _highly_ doubt that my daughter will be in Gryffindor, Minerva." He said with a slight smirk. Before the head of Gryffindor house could say anything back, the head of Hufflepuff house, Pomona, spoke up.

"I think she is a sure one for my house." Pomona said with a smile towards her colleagues. "She seems to be one from what I have seen and heard to be a perfect fit." She said as Severus brought his face down into his palm and shook his head.

Truth be told he had no idea which house his daughter would be going to. He found he did not care because of how no matter the house she got into, he just wanted her to be happy and not have to go through anything due to her condition. Though he knew full well that it may lead to trouble. Sure he knew the old fool, Dumbledore, had at one point hinted that he thought Lily would be too dangerous to be in the general public of the school with other students. Something that Severus was determined to prove wrong. For if there was one thing he knew without a doubt, it was that his daughter was a gentle child.

With that thought Severus stood from the table, having gathered his things as he spoke. "As much as I would like to stay and continue to debate on which house my daughter will be in next term, I must get going." Severus said only for Filius to stand on his stack of books and reach into his cloak.

"One moment, Severus." The tiny professor said as he seemed to dig in his pocket for something before pulling out a large bag from inside his cloak. "Can you take this to Lily? I thought that since Miss Tonks told me that your daughter loves to read that she might enjoy some of these." He said with a smile as Severus sighed and went to take the bag from the tiny professor.

"I had hoped to get her to not read as much this year because at the rate she is going she will want to read course books designated to prepare one for their O.W.L. exams." He said but he took the bag only for in that moment two more stacks of books to be presented to him. "Did you all not hear what I just said?!" Severus asked in a slightly frazzled tone but even with him trying to turn down the other two stacks of books, he ended up shrinking them with a simple charm and tucking them away promising to give them to his daughter to read.

'They do not listen!' Severus thought in frustration as he walked out of the staff room where they had all been. 'At this rate, Lily will be able to graduate by the end of her third or fourth year if it were allowed.' He thought to himself thinking that the other professors had wanted to give Lily books on their specific subjects in order to try and draw her interest to those classes instead of potions, where Lily seemed to excel. Even with the other professors claiming it was because she was the daughter of the Potions Master and how that was the subject that did not require as much magic or a wand like so many other of the classes.

Forcing that from his mind, Severus continued down the corridor soon getting to the Entrance Hall and then making his way to the dungeons. 'Just one more year of Lily being locked away down in these dungeons.' He thought to himself as he was hopeful that would be the case. His daughter deserved so much more than what he was able to give her at the moment.

Not long after he had entered the dungeons he found himself approaching the secret entrance to his quarters as he did not even stop, not even to utter the password as the portrait opened revealing the door as he walked through it to find Lily sitting on the couch with Xander curled up beside her purring. At least until he closed the door drawing the attention of the two.

"Welcome home, dad!" Lily said as she jumped up and rushed over only to throw herself against Severus in a hug. "The meeting wasn't too boring was it?" Lily asked as she knew at times her father found the staff meetings to be boring. However, that was not the only reason she was acting overly cheerful. Part of it was because since the morning of her birthday she kept seeing the hooded figure wherever she was. No matter how she ignored it or even when she was alone repeating over and over that they were not really there, the figure never went away.

While Severus did not know about the figure due to how Lily had not brought the figure up in a few weeks, he thought she was just being overly happy to hide that she was starting to grow weak again very slowly. 'Right after the first of the term, she will fall ill due to the wolf in her…' he thought only to return her hug for a brief moment before smiling down at her. "Actually after the meeting was very interesting." He said as Lily looked up giving him a curious look. "Professors McGonagall, Flitwick and Sprout were discussing with house they think you will go into next term." He said as Lily tilted her head to the side.

Sure she knew of the four different houses, but she had never once given it any thought on which house she would be going into. "And each of them thinks I will be in their house?" she asked as Severus nodded. "Though I don't think I could end up in your house." Lily said in a sad tone. "Because of how I do not wish to have power, I just want to live a happy and peaceful life." She said hugging Severus again for all she was worth. "And to always be with you, dad."

/

The first of September had come, and the Weasley family along with Harry had taken the elder children, Charlie, Percy, Fred and George, to Kings Cross Station so that they could leave for the start of the new term. Harry had actually had a plan in place with Fred and George that even Charlie had been in on, to sneak him onto the train and to Hogwarts so that he could see Lily. However, Percy and Ron ratted them out so that Harry was not allowed to sneak on.

So now he sat out in the garden fuming. All due to how Mrs. Weasley kept insisting that he try to get along with Ron, only for Harry to declare he would rather eat dirt than to be friends with the youngest boy of the Weasley family. More so since Ron still kept saying his views of Lily when he had never met her, saying she would surely become a dark witch because she was being raised by someone like Severus.

'He knows nothing!' Harry thought venomously. Though as the sun began to set, Harry looked toward the horizon knowing that any time now, the elder Weasley children would be reaching Hogwarts. 'I have to get out of here, and back to Lily and Severus.' Harry thought as he knew he had to risk sending a letter since it was the only way he could try to communicate. All due to how each time he had tried any other method, the Weasley's had stopped him.

"Harry?" a voice called as he turned to see the youngest Weasley, Ginny. She was the only one in the house at the moment that he felt any connection toward. Sure at first she had been really shy around him but in the last two years she had gotten more used to him.

"Yeah, Gin?" he asked since he had taken to calling her that instead of her full name, more so when it was just the two of them. An occurrence that seemed more common in recent months. Not that Harry minded in the slightest. All due to how it meant that he could use her to excuse himself from being around the others who he despised to an extent. But none of the children had earned his hatred more than Percy and Ron.

Ginny walked over and sat down on the bench beside Harry looking toward the horizon as it had turned to a deep hue of red and orange. Something that made it almost look as though it were on fire. "You are thinking about her again, aren't you?" Ginny asked looking away from the sky that was matching her long flaming red hair as her bright brown eyes were on Harry.

"Yes, because I can't shake this feeling that something is about to happen to her." He said shaking his head. "It is the same feeling I have been getting since her birthday." He said shaking his head after a moment.

"Why not write to her?"

"I tried that…hundreds of times but your parents always find out and confiscate the letter." He said he hung his head. "I just feel like there is something I have to do, to insure that she remains as she is, and safe." He said as he actually did not understand the feelings he had at the moment.

"Then write one, address it to Charlie, ask him to get it to Professor Snape." Ginny said as Harry looked at her in shock before throwing his arms around her pulling her close into a near bone crushing hug.

"Thanks, Gin!" Harry whispered with an urgent tone and with extreme relief. "You are a life saver!" he said before he let go of her only to stand and race back toward the house to head to the room he was staying in. Since the twins were at Hogwarts, to avoid any more fights, Mr. and Mrs. Weasley had moved him into their room until the holiday. Once in the room Harry raced over to the bed as he knelt beside it only to dig out some parchment along with his quill and ink, and even a book to allow himself a hard surface to write on.

/

Severus had reluctantly gone to teach his classes during the first week of the term, all due to how Lily was steadily getting worse until it was to the point she was bedridden even with her being given the wolfsbane potion. 'It does not seem to help near as well since she gets worse with each full moon. Though on the morning of the fifth, shortly after breakfast, he had seventh years for his first class of potions. So he had instructed them on how they would be working on the Polyjuice Potion, one that would be a month long project for them before they could test it to see if it was done properly. Once he had finished explaining the properties of the potion and stating that their homework was to research the potion and be ready to start the first step at the next class session, it was time to dismiss them. So he had gone to leave the classroom since he had a free period to go check on his daughter, only for a certain red headed seventh year to approach him.

"Professor Snape!" a voice called as Severus stopped and looked back to see that it was the eldest Weasley enrolled in Hogwarts at the moment. Charlie. He looked every bit a Weasley except unlike his other siblings in the school, he was not tall or lanky like the others were in their own right, he was the opposite.

"What is it, Mr. Weasley? I have pressing matters to tend to." Severus said in a low tone since he did not appreciate being held up when he was wishing to get to his daughter.

"I have something that Harry asked me to give to you." Charlie said reaching into his cloak only to pull out a folded up piece of parchment. "It came with a letter he sent to me with a request that I give it to you, sir." Charlie said as he held out the parchment as Severus took it. "He said it is a letter for Lily." Charlie said not expecting the shocked look he received from his professor before the older man regained his composure.

"Thank you. I will give it to her." Severus said turning on his heel and rushing from the room toward his quarters as he got there uttering the password in a whisper before he walked through the door behind the portrait. Before he could go very far into the room there was a faint pop to his right as he glanced to see that it was a terrified looking Twinkle. "What happened?" he asked since he had never seen her look more shook up than the memory he had seen of when her former master had given her clothes trying to separate her from the child she cared for.

"It is Mistress!" Twinkle cried in a frantic tone. "She was screaming in pain. Twinkle was doing as Master commanded but she got worse."

By the time Twinkle finished, Severus was rushing across the living room to the hallway that led to his daughter's room as he rushed into see she was laying on her bed, deathly still. All color gone from her skin. Severus began to fear that the strain had been too much for her small body but that was proven to not be the case when he saw the hesitant shuttering rise and fall of her chest. 'She is getting worse with each passing month…' he thought as it seemed that the wolf in her was fighting harder than ever to come out. "Twinkle." Severus said knowing the small elf had followed him to his daughter's room. "Watch her for a moment, I am going to go and put up a notice that classes for the rest of the week are canceled." He said as he turned and raced from his quarters back to the classroom only to do a simple spell to place a sign on the door saying that class was canceled until the following Monday.

/

For the next two days, Severus refused to sleep or leave his daughter's side besides when absolutely necessary, but even then it was brief. As even when he ate, Twinkle would bring his meals to Lily's room without question to allow him to stay with his child. Though by Friday morning, Lily was starting to slowly recover from the whole ordeal, as she even started to weakly insist that her dad not worry about her that she would be fine.

"Lily, this time Twinkle and I thought we were going to lose you." He admitted as he was holding his daughters small hand clutched between both of his hands as he sat beside her bed.

Lily gave her father a sad look and shook her head. "It won't, because I won't let it. That way you are never left alone." She said as Severus shifted and lifted Lily up ever so slightly pulling her into a hug.

"I will always be here for you." He whispered as he remembered he had something for her as he leaned back only to let Lily lay back down as she looked at him with a confused look as he reached over to her night stand and opened the door on it only to pull out a piece of folded parchment. "This was given to me by the eldest Weasley on Wednesday." He said unfolding it. "It is a letter from Harry." He said as he saw a light return to his daughter's eyes. Holding the letter so she could see it as well to know that it was actually from Harry as he read it aloud to her.

_Lily,_

_I hope that you are doing okay. For some reason since the date of your tenth birthday I have been having an odd feeling that something is wrong. I wish I was there with you and Severus to help make sure you are safe! I even tried to stow away on the Hogwarts Express to try and get there to see you. Sadly, I got caught before I could even board the train. Though I am sure had I actually managed it that I would have been sent back to this place. The only good thing right now is the youngest Weasley, Ginny, is actually nice. _

_But it doesn't make things any better with how the Weasley that is our age is nothing but a prat! I wish they would let me visit you and Severus! I miss both of you! Is there any way for Severus to try and arrange to retake custody of me as my legal guardian like he did when we were five? I am going insane in this place with how they keep saying that there is no way because of how Severus is a bad man which I know he isn't!_

_If nothing changes, I may just go through the Floo Network this summer just to see you and Severus. Especially for your birthday since I have missed the last two now and I feel horrible for that, more so since the last memory of you I have isn't of your smile. But instead of you screaming and crying my name when I was taken away from you and Severus. _

_I cannot wait to see you! Please say it is okay with you and Severus if I slip away and visit on your next birthday at the latest! I would really like to visit for Christmas but I doubt I will be able to get away then. If you send a response, please send it through Charlie and I think we will be able to communicate with one another, even if only this way. Oh and I hope that mean boy, Levi Lupin, is leaving you alone! Charlie, Fred and George only said that they see him in the common room hanging around Percy, but that they never see you around the castle anymore. What is going on?!_

_Harry_

As Severus finished reading the letter aloud, he could not help but wonder if the boy's mind had been going all over the place with how the letter seemed to skip around a little. He was tempted to write a letter himself, but that thought was discarded the moment he glanced over and saw that Lily had tears in her eyes while looking at the letter. 'I thought so…the seeds have been planted and the two deeply care for one another…' he thought as he knew that would make his life hell in a matter of years because he had seen how Draco looked at his daughter.

"Why don't you write a letter back to him once you are a little better and I will hand it off to the eldest Weasley to have it sent to Harry." Severus asked as Lily nodded, reaching up to wipe away the tears from her eyes.

/

By Sunday, Lily was recovered enough to write her letter. She knew her father was busy figuring out the schedule for what all his classes would be doing and how to handle a few of the classes being missed because of how by mid-week he had canceled them until Monday. So once she was done she looked over the letter to be sure it came out okay.

_Harry,_

_I wish you were here too! So much has happened, some of it I cannot even begin to explain. Where I tried to send you a letter before the end of the term two years ago right after you were taken but someone posing as a professor approached me. It is weird, I can only remember bits and pieces of what happened but since then dad has been stressing for me to be more careful about who I am around._

_And to answer what you asked with Levi Lupin, I have not even seen him in the last year. All due to how last term Dumbledore ordered father to keep me locked up in our dungeon quarters. So I can't even see my new friend Tonks who is in her final term here. But dad is doing his best to try and make my time locked away not as bad. For my last birthday he got me a black kitten that I named Xander. I will have to show him to you when I get to see you even if it is from when you have to sneak away from those people._

_I would love for you to be able to come to my next birthday! Only thing is that you wouldn't be able to stay by that evening you would have to go back to the ones that are taking care of you now. I cannot say why, just that it would be for the best. If you are not able to, I will get to see you when we start school next September. Something that I am eagerly counting down the days until because of how as said at times I feel like I am a prisoner while we are here at Hogwarts. More so when dad took me down to Hogsmeade last term to spend the day with Tonks, Dumbledore tried to stop us insisting that my dad take me back to the dungeons. _

_Lily_

As Lily looked over the letter one final time, she smiled finding it to be good as she folded it up only to put it on her nightstand as she laid back down to rest. All due to how she was still recovering her strength from the full moon that had passed earlier in the past week.

**A/N: **Well here is the new chapter. I have been having odd bouts of extreme muse, only thing is that my work schedule keeps me from being able to write as much as I would like to. Though I am hoping to be able to do updates fairly often from here on out. I am aiming to write at least one chapter ahead on all of my stories or on ones that my muse is motivated by at the moment before I do updates. That way should I be slow finishing the new chapters, I can still post updates for when I am slow with being able to write. I want to dedicate this chapter to IvaCat2439 for reviewing the last chapter and following this story. I hope you like a little part of this chapter I put in for you with what you mentioned in your review of the last chapter. I also want to thank everyone who has read, favorited, and followed this story. Until the next chapter!


	13. Guardian Angel

**Guardian Angel**

Lily sat in the living room as she stared at the flickering flames in the fireplace while idly petting Xander while they were waiting for her father. She was paler than usual once again all due to how the full moon had just passed just days before. So once her father had been sure she would be find unattended besides the watchful eyes of Twinkle, he had resumed classes once again on the Monday after the full moon in October. "I feel bad for how this makes dad worry…" she spoke idly as she heard Xander start to purr lightly while she traced her hand across his back while he snuggled against her pink night dress she was wearing since she had been in bed for most of the day because of her feeling so weak.

"What should I do?" she thought aloud as she heard a soft meow only to look down into the clear blue eyes of her kitten. "I have even tried getting a hold of some of dad's more advanced potion books to try and see if there is anything I can brew myself so to not worry him so much during the full moon." Lily said as Xander stood and stretched only to move to her lap and sit there facing her.

"You were looking into what?" a deep voice asked as Lily jumped, sending an unsuspecting Xander to the floor where he landed with an upset meow at her and the one who had startled her. Looking toward him for a brief second, Lily saw Xander give a look that seemed almost not like any a cat would give before turning and going back to her room. 'That look…' she thought before she shifted on the couch, bringing her knees up to the cushion as she was leaning slightly against the back of the couch to steady herself as she smiled innocently at her father.

"I was just wanting to look through some of your potion books to see if I could find anything at the level where I can brew it since I am stuck in here day and night." She admitted as her father closed the door behind himself only to come over, walking around the couch to sit beside her giving her a skeptical look.

"You know that I cannot allow you to look through those books. They are dangerous especially in your hands." Severus said with a faint smile on his lips even more so when Lily pouted ever so slightly as she shifted to be sitting normally on the couch. "I can see about taking you to Diagon Alley during Christmas break to get you some of the course books you will need for when you start your first year next September." Severus said as Lily looked even more put out by that offer than he had thought possible.

"But I already read all of the first year required course books!" Lily said leaning back against the couch a bit as she heard a soft chuckle only to turn ever so slightly to see that it had been her father whom had chuckled. "What?" Lily asked as Severus shook his head ever so slightly.

"I just find it amusing how you will be a first year next term and yet you have studied up to at least O.W.L. level in your reading." He said shaking his head. All because he knew the reason she had studied up to that point already. All because she was not allowed out of their quarters in the dungeon, making it so that all she could do was study or maybe if he could convince her to take up a different hobby then maybe he could get her to slow down with her learning. 'That or she will be at N.E.W.T. level by the time she is thirteen at the latest.' He thought as he could not help but smile when he saw the look of confusion that she was giving him. "I have my reasons for not wanting you to get any further ahead." He said as Lily crossed her arms lightly before herself.

"It is not like I can do much else when I am kept locked away in here while we are here during the term." She said in a hurt voice as she looked away. "But I understand why…" she trailed off ever so slightly. "Because if I was allowed out then I am a danger to the others here in the school because of how I am different…" Lily whispered only for her to see a rush of black material before her. Next thing she knew she was being pulled to be at an angle as she found herself being held close by her father but she fought to keep a neutral look on her face as he held her.

"You are not a danger to anyone." He whispered as he once again weighed his option at this point, more so when Lily did not answer him. "What would you like for dinner tonight?" he asked as Lily leaned back to look at him with surprise written on her face and in her blue eyes.

"Just some soup." Lily said since at the moment she was not up to eating anything to complex since the last bout with her affliction had ended with her unable to keep anything down for three days so she was still recovering in that sense.

"Twinkle!" Severus called as the small house elf appeared bowing before Severus and Lily. He spoke again before the small house elf could even ask what he was needing. "Get some soup for Lily." He said as the small elf vanished with a small pop while Severus removed his arms from around Lily. "Just rest for the moment." He said while standing from the couch though he saw the questioning look in his daughter's eyes. "I am going to have a talk with the annoying fool." Severus said with a soft tone before he turned and rushed from the dungeon quarters.

/

Up in the office of the headmaster, Albus sat seeming to just look over a book when he heard the sound of footfalls approaching the door as he opened his desk and tucked the book away only for the Potions Master to enter. "Severus." Albus said in a somewhat cheerful tone, but he could tell from the look on the younger man's face that he was not there for a pleasant visit. "What brings you here?" he asked since he had been thinking to head down to the Great Hall soon for dinner.

Severus just gave the old man behind the desk a sneer due to how the man acted like nothing was wrong yet he insisted on Lily being treated like a prisoner. "I am taking leave from my teaching duties for the remainder of this term and plan to return at the start of the next term when Lily will be starting school." Severus said in a firm tone only for the sparkle in the blue eyes of the headmaster to all but fade away in that instant. Without allowing the old man to say anything, Severus continued to speak. "Because of how having her locked away, I think, is part of why her affliction is getting worse with each and every month. She needs to be allowed freedom instead of being locked away being made to think that she is a danger to everyone." Severus ground out as the headmaster brought his hands up and intertwined his fingers before himself on the desk.

"Very well." Albus said as Severus gave him a questioning look, all due to how the man was always so unbearable, yet he was merely letting Severus take leave with no further notice than this. "I will get someone to take your place for the remainder of the term." Albus said as Severus merely nodded before turning and leaving the office.

Once Albus was sure that Severus had gone down the spiral stairs and was surely far enough away he drew his wand casting a simple charm to make it so that none could enter for a few moments or hear should they press their ears to the door to see if he was in the office. Once he was sure the spell was in place he stood and walked over to the cabinet only for it to open with a tap of his wand. Reaching inside he drew out the orb he had placed in there recently since he moved it around from time to time to insure that it was never found.

"Mors orbis indica mihi quem suscitavit." He spoke as within the orb white smoke shifted and swirled only to reveal Lily Snape as she was at the moment. Sitting at the table in the quarters in the dungeon. A smirk played at his lips as his white beard shifted with the small shift in his facial features. "Everything is progressing as planned, even though it is still early." He whispered as he carried the orb back to his sleeping chamber only to put it within his nightstand and cast a spell to make it so it would not open for anyone else. Once he was sure the orb was locked away he lowered the protective charm on his office before leaving to head to the Great Hall.

/

Severus did not stop at the Great Hall but instead kept walking past it toward the entrance to the dungeons so he could go let Lily know the good news. When he walked in he saw that Lily had moved over to the small table and was eating a bit of soup that he assumed Twinkle had fixed for her. He could not help but smile at the thought of how they would be leaving either that night or the following morning. Walking over to the table he pulled out the chair opposite of Lily as he sat down leading to Lily looking at him with a questioning look.

"You didn't hex or curse someone did you?" she asked since it seemed that lately her father had not smiled that much all due to how he was near always worrying about her.

"No." Severus said with a hint of a laugh in his voice at how his daughter thought he had left to go and do something like that. 'Then again it was very tempting…' he found himself thinking before he spoke again. "I took leave for the remainder of this term so that you can have more freedom back at the house rather than you being locked up here." He said as he saw a mix of emotions fly across his daughters face.

"But this is the last term that Tonks…" Lily started but she trailed off as the look on her face said it all. That she knew that while this was the last year her friend would be attending school, that she was not allowed to really spend time with Tonks. "Will I be allowed to say bye to her before we leave?" Lily asked as Severus felt a pang of sadness all due to how that was the dominant emotion in Lily's eyes.

"Of course. That and I am sure if you ask that Tonks along with Narcissa and Draco will come by for Christmas, if not I am sure Draco will be wanting to visit you fairly often." Severus said as he had noticed the budding crush that he was sure was only one sided. All due to how before Lily had even known Draco, Harry had all but captivated her heart. A sad bit that Severus was having to accept, that his baby girl was approaching the age where he would have to allow her to start dating.

"That would be fun." Lily said with a hint of her smile returning to her pale face.

Severus felt relief at seeing the smile return as he stood only to walk over by Lily and slightly mess her hair as she ducked away from his hand slightly while laughing, a sound that was still pure in Severus's ears. "Once you finish eating, pack what you want to bring with you then I'll take you to say bye to Miss Tonks." Severus said as he saw Lily nod with the first true enthusiasm he had seen in her since before they returned to the school.

Leaving Lily to finish her dinner, Severus started going through different areas of their quarters to determine what he would need to bring. With each item he decided to bring, he shrunk them down only to put them in the pocket of his robe. While he was finishing up in his room he heard Lily rush down the hall to her room followed by a startled meow hinting that Xander had been asleep when she raced into her room. 'I just hope I am doing what is best for her.' Severus thought as he finished gathering up his things.

Thirty minutes later, Severus ordered Twinkle to take Lily's bag and return to the house where they stayed between terms. He tried to get Lily to make Xander go with the house elf but found himself giving in when Lily insisted that she wanted him to be able to see some of the school, even if only the way to the Hufflepuff common room. So once Twinkle had vanished, Severus took Lily's hand and led her out of their quarters while Xander was cradled in her arms.

Once they got to the wall outside the Hufflepuff common room. They had to wait for a few moments until a second year of the house came down the corridor in a bit of a rush, all due to how it was close to curfew for the younger years. "Mr. Diggory." Severus said as the second year boy stopped dead in his tracks, his grey eyes wide with fear in them. Something that Severus was fairly sure was due to how when he had the second year Hufflepuff's in class earlier that day he had been very unpleasant to be around.

"Yes, sir?" Mr. Diggory said as his voice shook ever so slightly due to how the scariest professor in Hogwarts was standing there by the entrance to the common room. Though as Lily looked toward the boy to see that he seemed to be trying to now show his fear for her father.

"I need you to go into the common room and see if Miss Tonks is inside. If she is send her out." Severus said in a calm tone, but Lily could tell from the underline tone that it was meant to slightly intimidate the boy.

Mr. Diggory merely nodded before rushing past Severus, Lily and Xander to the wall where the entrance was and whispered the password before going in once the entrance appeared. Not even five minutes after it had closed, the entrance opened and there stood Tonks with a confused look on her face when she first saw the dark professor then she looked toward her friend who was beside him.

"Lily!" Tonks near yelled as she rushed forward barely missing tripping as she got near Lily earning a startled meow from Xander. "You being allowed some random moments of freedom?" she asked since she knew all too well how the headmaster saw Lily as to dangerous to be out among the students or to even sit in during her father's lessons.

"No." Lily said as she shifted her arms as Xander climbed to her shoulder as Lily moved closer to Tonks and hugged her. "Dad and me are going back home." She said as Tonks returned the hug only to tense.

"Home? You mean where you live between terms?"

"Yes." Severus said as Tonks continued to hold Lily close. "So that she can be allowed more freedom than she can here at the moment."

"I guess that is for the best…" Tonks said in a sad tone before she suddenly smiled, stepping back away from the hug. "I will be sure to write you as often as I can with how I am studying for my N.E.W.T exams at the end of this term."

Shortly after that, Severus led Lily and Xander back to their quarters, locking them up tight so that no one could enter through the main entrance or by floo once they had gone through. Though when they got to their home away from Hogwarts, Lily insisted that she wanted to go for a quick walk around the yard, saying that she would be fine since she would have Xander with her. So Severus had relented and allowed her to go on the condition that she not be too long.

Lily walked outside and rushed to walk away from the house so that she could be alone, or as alone as she could since Xander was hopping along behind her, easily keeping pace. Once she was sure she was far enough from the house she slipped behind a tree only to lean against it panting ever so slightly since she was slightly straining herself by doing this. Once she had regained her composure she remained leaned against the tree as she spoke. "Whoever you are, go away or show yourself!" she ordered only for the cloaked figure that she had been seeing since her last birthday step out from behind a nearby tree. "Who are you!" Lily demanded only for the figure to walk closer. "Don't come any closer!" Lily ordered as the figure stopped.

"I am not surprised you do not know who I am." The familiar female voice said from within the cloak.

"Of course I wouldn't because I have never seen your face to try and recognize you." Lily said while glaring at the figure. "Why have you been following me since my last birthday? Why can't my dad see you?" Lily asked in a near rush since she had been fighting to remain calm since her father had insisted on her birthday that he could not see the one Lily saw clear as day.

"All you need to know for now, is that I am like your guardian angel." The figure said only to fade away leaving Lily and Xander alone in the trees. Though her voice lingered as she spoke again. "When the time is right I will reveal more."

**A/N: **I am sorry that it has taken me so long to finish this chapter. I had to rewrite the ending several times due to how I was debating between what to have the conversation reveal and what to hold back for the time being. Also I am not posting the translation of what Dumbledore said all due to how it would be a MAJOR spoiler. The next chapter is already in the works in terms of planning it, so I hope I won't be near as long getting it up. There will be a lot of father daughter bonding between Lily and Severus, along with much more! I want to thank Alia Prior and NatNicole for their reviews. Though I want to ask if anyone has any guesses as to who the figure Lily keeps seeing is. If you do put your guess in a review, I plan to do something special for any who can guess it.


	14. Doubt

**Doubt **

Severus had been enjoying the fact that after he had taken his hiatus from teaching at Hogwarts, he was allowed all the time in the world with his daughter. She had a rough start to the month of October all due to how that had been when the full moon had rolled around, so just like every other one he spent it staying close to her side and doing all he could to ease her pain. Though he found great relief in the fact that since she had not been locked up before the full moon that it seemed her body was a little stronger. Though he still found himself wishing for her to get better and not have to suffer so much as her body did not go through the transformation.

Though within the following week after the full moon she was regaining her strength and able to walk around the house without him or Twinkle doing what they could to support her. She had taken to writing to Draco and even sending letters to Tonks and asking her friend to slip letters to Charlie Weasley so that he could send them to Harry. It had been thanks to that system that she and Harry were able to talk somewhat regularly, though Severus had sent a letter when a letter from Harry had arrived during the week of the full moon. He had not said what was wrong, just explained that Lily's letter would be delayed due to her falling ill and for the boy not to worry.

Something that only seemed to sink in with Harry once Lily was well enough to send her own letter claiming that being locked up in their quarters at Hogwarts caused her immune system to become extremely weak but that she would be alright. Though once she had sent the letter off to Hogwarts along with a letter for Tonks, Lily had walked back inside to the couch and sat down only for Xander to hop up onto her lap and curl into a ball as she absently pet him. "I wish I did not have to lie to him or anyone else about why I fall ill so often…" she spoke softly as Xander let out a small meow.

"But you know that right now it is for the best." The gentle female voice said as Lily looked toward the fireplace to see the robed figure of her guardian angel. "Not many in the world are accepting of those with the werewolf affliction." She said in a sympathetic tone.

Lily glanced around making sure that her father and Twinkle had not returned yet since they had gone out for a short while but had opted to leave her home since she was still not fully recovered. Once she was sure that no one else was there she shifted, lifting Xander from her lap and resting him on the cushion only to stand and walk over by the fireplace to stand not too far from the hooded figure. "I know, but I feel that Harry would be accepting of me." She said as she reached up resting her hand on the crescent moon pendant her father had given to her.

"Yes, but others may not. And it is those people who would stand in the way of you being allowed to see him again." The figure said as Lily was focused on the flames dancing in the hearth.

"I am just worried that should he find out on his own he will turn his back on me. When all I want is to have him back in my life." Lily whispered as she reached up resting her right hand on the mantle. "He used to at times refer to me as a beautiful shining light in his life, but he was mistaken on that." She said as she closed her eyes. "Nothing seems to ever go right, and how I have already been deemed as a dangerous monster…"

"Lily…" the figure whispered as she reached out to rest her hand on the girl's shoulder only for her hand to phase through her. "If only you knew just how special you are." The woman said as she let her hand fall back to her side as Lily looked toward her about to ask what she had meant only for the figure to vanish.

"Wait!" she called reaching out to the figure as they faded from sight but all her out stretched fingers caught was air.

"Never forget, that even if no one else is your ally, you have your father. For you are his greatest treasure, his precious child." The voice of the woman said even though she could no longer be seen as Lily let her hand move back as she reached up resting her hand on the necklace once again.

About an hour later Severus and Twinkle got back to find Lily sleeping on the couch with Xander lying beside her purring away in his sleep. Deciding to leave her there for the moment, Severus led Twinkle to the kitchen where the two proceeded to put a few of the things they had gotten away before Severus went down to his lab in the basement to put away the ingredients he had gotten for the next few months to make batches of the wolfsbane potion for Lily. 'How much longer will we need to go through this…' he thought to himself before he sat down the last of the ingredients in their respected places and went to return to the kitchen to let Twinkle know to start on lunch for them.

Once he had a brief conversation with Twinkle, asking her to make them some sandwiches and tea for lunch, he went back to the living room and knelt beside the couch watching Lily sleep for a brief moment before he went to reach out to her. Though as he was doing so she went from resting peacefully to being in a full blown fit. She started to thrash on the couch, sending an unsuspecting Xander to the floor as he let out a startled meow while Severus rushed to rest a hand on Lily's arm and call out to her.

"Lily! It is just a dream. Come one, Lil, wake up." He pleaded only for Lily to go still but remain asleep. "Lily?" he asked hesitantly but she did not respond to him but remained in a deep sleep.

_Lily was alone in a dark place, there were trees all around her, but the air felt almost as though it was dead. There was no wind, just the feel and even the smell of death. She glanced around, seeing nothing as she noticed her body seemed almost transparent as she held up her hands. 'Am I a ghost?' she thought to herself before she heard a voice, like that of a hiss._

"_A host…a host has come…" as a sickly creature crawled along the ground on all fours only for Lily to scramble back away from it. "I must…new host…" it spoke in a weak tone that bordered on near pitiful. Though something deep down told Lily not to feel sympathy for such a creature. "Help me…" it spoke in a hiss as one of its small white boney hands reached out to her. "I can grant you…anything…" the creature gasped for breath as it was still on the ground seeming to have used up the last of its strength. Though after a moment of raspy gasping the creature looked up at her with blood red eyes that did not have a pupil but a slit like that of a snake. "Anything that your heart desires…"_

"_Nothing you can offer would tempt me to help you!" Lily declared backing away again from the creature as it reached for her. Sure her father had told her she should be kind and help others, but he had not raised her to be a fool. For there was something about those eyes that seemed familiar but she could not place from where._

"_I only require…a host…"_

"_I said no!" Lily yelled backing away from the creature. "I will never be a host for you!" she ground out before a thick fog rolled in and engulfed her and the creature both so that she could no longer see any further than a foot in front of her. _

"_You may resist being my host, child." The voice spoke as it sounded much stronger within the fog, no longer the sickly weak hiss it had been before. "But one with my mark upon them will deliver you to me." The voice said as there was a brilliant glow through the fog before the image of a skull with a serpent protruding as it's tongue appeared only for there to be a flash of white light as the dream around Lily shattered. First the surroundings and then the very ground beneath her feet as she was falling among shards of glass as they turned reflecting that mark to her over and over._

_Though her attention was pulled from that as there was then a series of images that flashed across the fragments of glass. Some of it she recognized, but others she did not as they were cast mostly in shadows or completely distorted. As she continued to fall a light appeared down below her as she looked back over her shoulder to see the triangular eye burning along with a skeletal figure seeming to try and draw her closer to it…_

Lily sat up abruptly from the couch nearly knocking her father over from the abrupt force of her leaning up as she screamed only to look around, her blue eyes wide as she was gasping. She heard a faint voice as though it were miles away before she felt a hand on her shoulder as a blurry figure appeared before her and seemed to be calling out. She just remained where she was, wide eyed seeming to not be able to focus on anything around her as the dream kept playing over and over in her mind.

Severus became more worried by the second all due to how even though Lily had woken up she seemed unable to focus on him even as he sat in front of her and even put his hands on her shoulders while gently calling her name. "Lily…please answer me." He pleaded as her eyes did not seem to be coming back into focus but seemed to be becoming more and more distant by the minute. 'What the hell is happening to my child?!' Severus thought in a panic as he moved his hands to the sides of her face forcing her to at least be facing toward him. "Lily, please…come back to me…" he whispered as her eyes slowly came back into focus.

"D…dad…?" she asked hesitantly after several moments as his blurry outline came into focus allowing her to see the worried face of her father before he shifted pulling her close against his chest. "What's wrong?" she asked not fully remembering what had happened in her dream.

"I was so worried. You were having a fit like you do during the full moon." He whispered in a worried tone.

"I…" Lily started but she trailed off feeling as though she had forgotten something important. But after a moment she brushed it off and spoke in a small voice. "I was just having a really bad nightmare." She said feeling bad for lying to her father, but that was all she thought it was now. Just a bad dream.

/

A few days later, Lily was laying in her room still in her pale blue night dress with the blanket discarded to the foot of the bed. She was unable to sleep despite it being just before dawn. One part of the dream from a few days ago had come back to her. Insisting that one with the mark of that creature would deliver her to it. Then a part of the letter from Mrs. Weasley also rang in Lily's mind. '…anything to do with someone like your father…' A part of the letter that had made no sense to her at the time. Though something deep down was telling her to find out why someone would have said that.

'If I remember right from a book I read last year…the mark I saw in that dream was the dark mark. The mark used by He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named during his reign of terror during the Wizarding War that ended when he tried to kill Harry and the curse rebounded…' she thought to herself. 'That and one bit I found mentioned dad's name as one of the suspects as a supporter but nothing past that...' she thought to herself as she knew that had been one of the books her father had confiscated from her saying that it was too grown up for her to read. 'What was he trying to hide…?' she thought to herself as she shifted so that she was sitting on the edge of her bed with her hands resting beside her on the mattress as the rug brushed against the bottom of her bare feet.

"Severus…you made a mistake and now you have to accept that this is the consequence for it. I never want to see you again." A voice rang in Lily's ears as in the dream she had been having she had heard numerous voices but that one had stuck out due to how it had been referring to her father and how there had been so much hurt behind it. 'What kind of mistake could he have made to cause someone that much pain?' she thought to herself as she began to realize that her father had never once spoke of his life before. Any time she had asked, even about her mother, her father would get a sad look on his face and say that she had passed nothing more. Just that it was just him and her and that he would do his best to fill both rolls for his daughter.

'I want to know what he did…' Lily thought as she shifted standing from her bed as she turned and headed toward the door only to hear the voice of her guardian angel.

"Lily, do not walk this path, just let what happened in the past stay where it belongs." The woman pleaded as she appeared to the right of the door as Lily could feel her unseen eyes on her.

"I need to know the answer." Was all Lily said before she reached out taking hold of the door knob as she turned the handle before pulling the door open and stepping out into the hallway. She glanced down the hall making sure that Twinkle had not heard her exit her room since she was worried the house elf would distract her or be one to advise her to not go into her father's room so early since nothing seemed to be wrong.

Once she was sure that was not the case she headed to her father's room, quietly turning the knob and then pushing the door open only to see in the dark room that it seemed her father was still sound asleep. 'If I remember right, dad had some kind of tattoo on his left forearm but I can't remember clearly what it looked like…' she thought to herself as she tip toed over to her father's bed as he was laying on his stomach with his right arm tucked up under the pillow while the left was laying before his face. Carefully Lily reached out and turned her father's arm so that the forearm was facing toward her father, but still where she could see it.

Just as she was about to shift his sleeve he had shifted in his sleep moving to where he was laying on his back so his arm was on the other side of the bed. Taking a deep breath, Lily went over to the other side of the bed that was against the wall. 'Only one way to go about this…' She thought to herself as she moved closer to the bed only to climb up onto it and proceed to crawl on her knees to where her father was laying as she was careful not to jolt the bed as she got closer to him. Once she was close enough she was on her knees as she reached out and started to shift the sleeve up until it was at her father's elbow. 'It won't be there; it has to be a different tattoo…dad would have never served that horrible man!' Lily thought in desperation as she shifted her father's arm so that his forearm was up for her to see.

She sat there in shock as the pale light of the dawn was filtering into her father's room. There on his forearm was the mark she had seen in the book and in her dream. The skull with the snake for a tongue. Her blue eyes widened in pure shock at how there was now no denying it, her father had been a servant to the darkest wizard in a century. She started to move back along the bed only to find the edge and fall off with an audible gasp as she hit the floor. She heard movement as she soon found herself bathed in the light from her father's wand as he was sitting near the edge of the bed looking down at her in confusion and worry.

"Lily?" he asked, his voice a bit groggy as he was trying to wake up more due to how he had woken so suddenly from hearing his daughter fall from the bed. He thought that was odd since she had not fallen off of the bed since she had been around four and that had been from her jumping on it. "What is wrong?" he asked as he started to notice the panic in her eyes that were looking at him with absolute terror.

Without even saying anything, Lily scrambled to her feet, rushing toward the door she forgot to open it for a brief second before she scrambled to force it open and run out. Leaving her father staring after her in confusion as he went to move to the side of his bed only to notice his sleeve was rolled up. Not just his sleeve, but the one that had covered his left forearm.

'No!' he thought in worry and panic. 'She saw the dark mark!' he thought as he rushed to get up not bothering to get dressed as he heard the door downstairs slam open meaning she had taken off into the woods again. Racing from the room and down the stairs, the only thought on Severus' mind was that he had to find Lily and explain to her the truth of his past. Something he had wished to never have to share with her.

**A/N: **I am sorry for the delay in the chapter. I had planned it to go one way but then half way through the chapter I decided to scrap the original plan for the chapter and go with this one instead since it will help so much more with story progression. Do not worry, the original will be used for another chapter later on. Now I want to extend my sincerest thanks to Alia Prior for their review. They guessed right on what I asked in the last chapter so I will be doing something very soon as a special gift to them. Also I plan to start work on the next chapter very soon so hopefully I can get it done in the next month, which will be difficult. Mainly due to how I will have very little free time to sit down to outline, write and edit the new chapter this next month, but I will do my best to make it work. Also for any also following my other stories, I plan to update them as well soon too, not sure when yet. Now for a little question for the readers! Does anyone have a guess at the significance of Lily's dream?


	15. A Father's Story

**A Father's Story**

Severus raced through the woods trying to find any trace of his daughter, but it was no use. She was nowhere to be seen. "Lily!" he yelled as he kept running. 'Where could she have gone to?!' he thought as he continued to run, his desperation growing with each second. 'I have to find her!' he thought knowing that once he did, he would have to convince her to come back, and to tell her the full truth.

/

Lily kept running as fast as she could through the trees, some leaves falling as though to help conceal her having passed through the path. 'He had the mark!' she thought as she continued running only to trip on an unseen root and fall flat on the cold unforgiving earth as she felt her arms, hands and legs get scraped up. 'He is a death eater…one of the followers of the darkest wizard…' she thought as tears streamed down her face while she shifted and curled into a tight ball. 'Why…' she thought as tears continued to fall freely.

Unknown to Lily, her guardian angel was not far from her watching over her. After several moments of watching the scared child on the forest floor crying, the woman moved over closer and knelt beside Lily. "You need to give him a chance to explain." She said in a gentle tone. "Despite how it may appear, your father having that mark on him does not make him a bad man."

"How can you be so certain? Only the darkest and most twisted of wizards and witches who believed in the discrimination and destruction that wizard believed in would have accepted the mark." Lily sobbed as she curled into an even tighter ball.

The woman was silent for a few moments more, trying to think how to convince the child before her. That was when she came up with an idea as she reached out and carefully rested her pale hand on Lily's forehead, but not so that it would phase through her. "Think back on your time with him, did he ever once do anything that hinted he had the beliefs of those people?" the woman asked as she saw felt Lily go still beneath her hand as she moved it only to see the child had fallen asleep.

In that moment the woman reached up shifting her hood to reveal part of her face, pale almost like snow and gentle blue eyes. "Rest, your father will find you soon." She whispered before moving her hood back to conceal her face as she stood only to vanish. 'I don't know if this will work, but he has come into contact with her countless times so he should be able to see me…I hope…' she thought as she appeared not to far from Severus.

"Severus Snape!" she yelled as he froze.

Severus had stopped running gasping for breath as he was near to the point of being like a mad man until he heard a voice that sounded vaguely familiar call his name. Looking toward it, he saw a figure in a deep cloak standing among the trees. His eyes went wide as he raised his wand and trained it on the figure. "Who are you! How did you get past the wards!?" He demanded but the figure merely turned and started to near glide away. While standing there he felt an odd sense, something deep down telling him to follow the figure, that they might know where Lily was. So he went after the figure as he kept his distance, with his hand still clutching his wand at his side, ready to throw a hex or curse should it come down to that.

Within a matter of minutes, the figure had stopped moving only to vanish. "Wait!" Severus yelled, running forward only to realize the figure had been standing over the form of his daughter who was still curled in a ball on the ground. "Lily!" Severus breathed in relief as he rushed over and knelt beside her only to gather her up to his chest as he hugged her close. "I am so sorry!" he spoke, his voice shaking ever so slightly as he remained there only for a minute or so before slowly standing, still cradling Lily to his chest. "I promise I will give you what little explanation I can for my foolishness in my youth…" he whispered though he knew she probably could not hear him as he carried her.

Soon they were back at the house as Severus carried Lily over to the couch, placing her down, only to wave his wand, casting a ward spell, to keep Lily in. He wanted to at least insure she stayed long enough to allow him a chance to explain. Next he waved his wand again and a warm blanket appeared over his daughter. He wanted to sit by her, to be by her side when she woke, but she knew at the moment once she woke she would possibly be repulsed by him. 'I had wished to keep her in the dark about that part of my past since it turned so many that I cared for away from me…' Severus thought as he stopped himself from reaching out to his daughter once he realized he reached for her with his left hand. The hand that was tainted since he had the mark on his left forearm. The one he had once offered to the dark lord to take his mark as a sign of his loyalty to the darkness.

Within Lily's dream she found herself surrounded by darkness. Various images flashed before her as she could hear muffled voices, ones arguing. A male and female, while the female sounded frail the male sounded livid. Once she focused on them, she found she could hear more of what was being said.

"I do not care! That **thing** is not my child! It is the reason that you are in the stat you are now!" the male voice yelled as she could feel the anger from the voice that shook her to the core.

"She is a blessing." The weaker female voice insisted. "That is why she is named for her aunt, so that she will grow up to be a strong woman." There was nothing but love in the female voice. "My beautiful…"

The voices suddenly stopped as they were replaced instead by an image of her with her father when she had only been about five, shortly before her father and her had gone and saved Harry. They were in the living room of the house as she was sitting on his lap while he held open a picture book before them so she could stare in awe at the pictures as they moved across the page. Once the story was done, Severus had closed the book and sat it to the side before bringing his arms around Lily as she giggled while he kissed her on the cheek.

'Could he really be different than he was when he took the mark?' she thought to herself only for the dream to shift again with her facing a child form of herself.

"Daddy saved me from the loneliness." The younger version of Lily said.

"The loneliness?" Lily asked her younger self since in truth there were vast gaps and haziness in her memory from before she was around four.

"Before Daddy, we were alone. He saved us, not just from the loneliness, but also from the bad people." The younger version said as Lily became even more confused by what the younger version of herself was saying.

"The bad people…?" Lily asked since she did not remember ever being in danger besides at the hearing for the custody of Harry when they had been kids.

The appearance of her child self changed, shifting to that of a grown person as they advanced on her. "Stay away!" Lily screamed only for a figure of her father to appear before her sending a curse at the other that fell to the ground only to shatter as she stared in shock. Then there was a light as everything was blissful, nothing but happiness…

Lily wanting nothing more than to remain there, in the warmth of happy times, but it seemed that fate had other plans for where she was to be. Within only a few moments, a dark shadow was cast over Lily as she turned to see what it was as the image of a wolf appeared. "I-it can't be!" she spoke in a shaking tone as she went to back up but the wolf advanced on her. The wolf growled as though it were trying to communicate with her as she backed away even more trying to avoid being too close to it. "NO!" Lily screamed as she felt a surge of power from within her that seemed to ripple out the dream around her shattered sending her falling through darkness once again.

"_Child of the moon!"_

"_One with the curse!"_

"_Kills to be allowed to exist."_

"_Stained with blood from birth."_

"_Unwanted."_

"_Unloved!"_

"_Unnecessary!"_

"_One destined for darkness."_

"_Bringer of death."_

"_The Sacrifice."_

Various voice kept screaming at her as she fell through the darkness as she bunched up slightly as she fell. 'Dad…Tonks…Draco…Harry…' She thought as tears fell down her face. 'Someone…please…help me!' she cried in her mind. Suddenly she stopped falling as she felt that someone was there with her while she was suspended in darkness.

"Lily…" a gentle voice called as she opened her eyes only to see a blinding light coming toward her. "Please…wake up…" the voice pleaded as the light was beside her.

"I can't…" she whispered weakly. "I am one who is meant to only cause trouble, so I should fall into eternal sleep…" she said as her eyes were hollow. "Everyone around me is hurt or leaves…" she said as the darkness around her shifted only to reach out and grab onto her.

"I will not let you!" the voice spoke more firm only to reach for her. "You are precious to so many, so do not let your heart be over taken by this darkness!" the voice ordered as Lily looked toward the light where the voice was originating. "Take my hand!" it ordered as a hand appeared from the blinding light.

Almost as an automatic response, Lily weakly raised her hand toward the hand that was from the light only to rest her hand in the other to feel them close it around her hand…

/

Lily slowly started to wake as she felt that she was no longer outside because of how it was no longer cold. She went to shift as she slowly opened her blue eyes as she realized she was on the couch in the living room with a blanket on her. 'What a weird dream…' she thought as she felt it was slipping away from her so fast that she could only remember that there had been another there. One shrouded in blinding light. 'Who…' she wondered as she felt that her hand was in another's. Turning her head slightly toward where she could feel someone else close by, she saw that it was her father.

"Lily…" Severus spoke in relief, glad that she had woken, that is until she had shifted and pulled her hand out of his. "I know that you are upset that I have kept the truth from you." He admitted in a low tone. "I had planned to tell you once you were older, to protect you." He was near pleading now for his daughter to understand and at least hear him out.

Lily looked toward her father since she had seldom ever heard him speak in such a tone. "Protect me? It seems more like you were trying to protect yourself from your own mistakes." Lily said in a harsh tone as she saw her father flinch at the tone she had spoken in.

"Maybe…" Severus whispered looking down in shame. "I do not expect you to forgive me for the sins I committed, but I just ask that you hear me out, with what led to the greatest mistake of my life…" he spoke as he almost didn't dare to look at his daughter in the face. And he wouldn't have, had it not been for several minutes of silence that drew his onyx eyes up to look at his daughter as she moved to be propped up a bit more by the pillows on the couch. "Lily, please…" he whispered as an image flashed through his mind. That of him as a fifteen-year-old begging day and night for the only woman he loved to forgive him.

For several minutes, Lily remained silent even as the figure of her guardian angel was standing over by the mantle watching from within her deep hood. "Lily, you should give him a chance to explain. He speaks the truth, that he had not told you thinking that he was protecting you." The woman said as Lily closed her eyes thinking for a moment before she decided she would at least hear what her father had to say.

"Alright…" she whispered, though her tone betrayed that she was still on edge about the whole situation.

Severus smiled ever so slightly, relief evident on his face at hearing that Lily would at least hear him out. "Stay here and rest for a moment…" he urged before standing from where he had been on the floor to head up to his room. Once in his room he went over to his night stand and opened it before tapping his wand on the bottom of the drawer to reveal it had been a fake bottom with a spell on it to prevent Lily from getting access to it on her own.

'I should tell her the full truth…even on what happened when she was five…' he thought to himself as he grabbed an old looking photo album from it along with a box with a few things to help prove what he was about to tell her. Steeling himself he walked from his room and back to the living room only to sit the album and box down on the floor. "Sit on the floor with me." He said as he put down a blanket so that they were not on the cold floor as Lily shifted and moved down to the floor, but she still kept distance between her and her father. "Before I start, I want you to know this will be the full truth." He said as Lily gave him a look that still hinted she was being distant.

Sighing, Severus picked up the album and rested it on his lap before opening it to reveal a picture of him as a baby with a woman that had some of the same features as him. "My mother, Eileen married a muggle man named Tobias Snape. He was abusive towards both my mum and I because of how he did not care for much, including how mother was a witch and I was a wizard." He said as he turned the page to reveal a picture Severus at about age ten with a girl that had hair like fire and eyes like Harry's. "This is me and Lily Evans shortly before we started Hogwarts together."

"Evans…?" Lily whispered as the name sounded familiar.

"Yes, she was Harry's mother." Severus spoke tenderly as he reached out touching the edge of the picture, even moving his hand to be near the female as it was a muggle photo. "Her parents, nice people, took this not long before Lily and me started school. She was the first to actually be kind to me, as where we grew up, in Cokeworth, I was seen as the odd Snape boy. Because of how, as you can see in the picture, my clothes did not match or fit properly most of the time." He said as he glanced to the side to see that Lily had inched closer so she could see the worn pictures more. "However, when we got to school it became harder to maintain our friendship." He said turning the page and pointing to one that was of Severus and a group of others. "I fell in with a bad crowd after I was sorted into Slytherin while Lily went to Gryffindor." He turned a few pages to show him and Lily growing up year by year. When he got to the fifth year he hesitated, almost considering just turning the page as quick as he could, but he knew this would be a pivotal moment to his story.

"This is the last picture that Lily's parents took of us because after our exams that year…I pushed her away for good…" Severus spoke, his voice shaking ever so slightly. "Where a group of Gryffindors, they called themselves the Marauders, decided to take part in what they delighted in. Torturing me." Closing his eyes, Severus could see the memory playing through his mind. "They would always do anything they could, from small pranks to outright humiliating me in front of numerous other students." Severus paused allowing a sigh to pass his lips.

"Why would they do that?" Lily asked, any trace of the tone she had used before was gone as she was now sitting right beside her father staring at the photo for a moment before looking up at her father as he opened his eyes to look at her. "Surely you had not done anything to them to lead to them doing such horrible things."

"They did it just to make me miserable. Much like what Levi Lupin was doing to you before you were to stay in our quarters in the dungeons of Hogwarts. He is just as much a bully as his father." Severus growled in a low tone before realizing what he said, since in truth Lily was also that man's child…no!

She was his!

"So just because they could?" Lily asked in a voice that was barely above that of a whisper.

"Yes. There were four of them. James Potter, Harry's father, Sirius Black, Remus Lupin, and Peter Pettigrew." Severus paused for a second. "James delighted in tormenting me because of how he was always trying to get Lily's attention, yet at that time she would have preferred to hex him sooner than look at him. She found him absolutely horrid." Severus smiled faintly at the memory of a time Lily Evans had once gone off on a rant about James and his group. Her flame red hair had moved about her as she paced while ranting, entrancing him even more in her beauty.

"Then why did she get with him? Why not you?" Lily asked bringing Severus back to the then and there.

"Because that time, James and his gang pushed me too far. So when Lily stepped in telling them to stop, I took out my anger on her." Severus stared at the photo. "I called her the detestable name that some use for those that are born with no magical parents." He said as he glanced toward Lily seeing the disbelief in her face. She knew the term, since all the child had done while at Hogwarts was read. "I tried for the rest of our time at Hogwarts to try and get her to accept my apology, but by our seventh year she was dating James. Something that pushed me further down the path that shortly after graduating led me to make the mistake you saw the physical scar from." He spoke moving his left hand from the side of the album so that he could turn over his hand to allow the dark mark to be once again fully visible.

"I continued to love Lily, yet I knew I could no longer win her heart. So I went about things in a way that led to the destruction of so much. I offered my services to the dark lord as a Potions Master, and my knowledge of curses and hexes. That is…until a fateful night." He spoke in a sad tone. "I overheard a prophecy saying that a boy would be born at the end of the seventh month that would be marked as the equal of the dark lord. I reported it back to the dark lord, realizing too late that I had all but helped secure the death warrant for the Potters." He said as he glanced to Lily only to see the look of absolute horror on her face.

"I raced to inform Dumbledore so that he could try to keep the Potters safe, but he was not able to. Because as you know, on Halloween after Harry turned one…" Severus had a distant look on his face. "The dark lord found them and proceeded to kill James and Lily only to fail at killing Harry." He said looking away from Lily.

After several moments, she spoke in a small voice. "You…were the one that caused Harry to be placed with those horrible muggles?" Lily asked inching away from her father once again. "All because of how you had not liked who his mother had married?" Lily accused, her blue eyes hard as stone.

"It was not that Lily." Severus spoke turning slightly to face his daughter resisting wanting to reach out and pull her close to make her see the reason. "The world was plunged into war when I was still in school, I picked the side of darkness. Lily and her husband opposed it, along with many others. Then there was the prophecy I mentioned, the dark lord assumed that it was Lily and James Potter's son. When in truth it could have been another." Severus admitted looking to the side. "There has not been a day since that I have not regretted what I did then. I was a foolish man when I was younger, believing that what all of us in the dark lord's service were doing was for the better. That we would make the world better. I had been bullied in school, unwanted at home. Making it easy for me to be drawn to him. It was a form of acceptance I had longed for." Severus spoke only to see Lily look away from him. A small gesture, but it led to him feeling like he had been stabbed through the heart.

"So that is why at first you were hesitant to be open toward Harry after we found him that day…" Lily said angling her face toward the floor.

"Yes, out of guilt." Severus whispered. "But I am now a changed man." His voice was fully pleading now.

"How can I trust you!" Lily hissed at her father as she turned her harsh blue eyes to glare at him for a brief moment before looking away, anger still evident on her face.

"Because it was you." Severus whispered in a defeated tone as he lowered his gaze but he could feel his daughters gaze back on him. No longer hard, but questioning. "I had fallen into nothing but darkness, but you rescued me from that after your mother died." He said as he looked up slowly seeing the curious look on Lily's face, and near longing. For he had never spoke of her mother before besides that she had passed. "Before that, I still distanced myself, having no father figure to look to for an example of how to be a proper father for you. Though when your mother passed, it was just you and me. I hesitated to let my heart open up to you, more so with how your illness, I was not sure if I would have you for very long." He admitted though at the moment he knew he was lying about part of the story. Though he did not want her to feel like she had ever been unwanted.

There were several moments of silence while they sat there on the floor staring at one another. Neither noticing the saddened house elf who had come to the door from the kitchen for a moment before turning and quietly going back to the kitchen without a sound.

"Though there was an incident a few years ago…" Severus said setting the photo album on the couch and standing before offering a hand to Lily as she took it and he helped her up. "But this one is better that I show you instead of tell you." He said as he knew that at the moment she did not remember it at all, as far as he knew. He led her up to his room where he left her in the center of the room as he retrieved a pensieve that he carried over to his night stand after waving his wand to send lamp on it to the bed. "This is from when you were five…shortly before we found Harry…" Severus said resting the tip of his wand against his temple. After a brief moment he moved his wand away from his temple, pulling from it a silver strand which he lowered to the pensieve where it detached from his wand and fell into the reflective surface. "Only if you are ready to see it…" Severus said as Lily looked toward her father and nodded, to show that she was ready.

"I want to know the truth." She said with a determined tone.

**A/N:** I am sorry this chapter took longer than expected to write. I was originally going to have this chapter and next chapter be one, but I found I preferred having the two split. This chapter as well as next will be slight emotional roller coasters for Severus and Lily as a secret he has kept from her for five years comes to light. Someone from Severus' past will make an appearance in the next chapter! Now I want to thank NatNicole and Alia Prior as well as dedicate this chapter to them for how they have reviewed several chapters since I started writing this story. As well as a very special thank you to those who have favorited and/or followed this story. I hope everyone is enjoying it so far. I hope to have the next chapter up soon!


	16. Tobias

**Tobias**

Severus was still hesitant, even at seeing how Lily nodded and voiced that she wished to know the truth that he was keeping from her. 'I just hope she is ready for this part of the truth…' he thought since he had been the one to steal that memory from her to protect her. To allow her peace rather than live in fear the way he had when he had been her age. He gently squeezed Lily's hand as they stepped closer to the pensieve before lowering themselves to look into it as the floor seemed to jolt casting them down into the reflective surface as they fell through it, down into the memory that Severus had placed within it.

The memory materialized as Lily remained beside her father, seeing what she had in her dream. Their home as it had been when she had been only five years old. Pictures, both muggle and magical lining the mantle, as well as even the walls. Even pictures that looked like they had been drawn by crayons hung on the lower parts of the wall. Mainly consisting of ones that were her father and her, as well as places they had taken walks to in the forest during the warm summer nights. Ones of even Twinkle since to Lily the small house elf was a part of the family. There were the usual book shelves, but at the time of the memory they were all but littered with various practice books for her muggle studies that her father had already started to introduce her to as well as numerous picture and non-picture books that she had begged her father for any time they went to Diagon Alley.

She felt her hand being squeezed once again as she glanced to her side at her father to see he looked a bit misty eyed at seeing the house as it had once been. Though it was a moment before she glanced around again to see that from the door to the kitchen came her father carrying her when she had been a small child. The younger Lily was smiling ear to ear and laughing about something that had happened in the kitchen. Though try as she might, Lily could not remember what had happened. "Dad, why can't I remember this day? Or what we had been doing in the kitchen?" Lily asked her father turning away from the memory versions of her and her dad.

"That will be revealed shortly…" was all Severus would say as he kept his dark eyes on the memory versions of him and Lily. 'I just hope she will not be angry with the end of this memory…' he thought sadly.

Figuring she would not get any more of an answer from her father now, Lily went back to watching the younger version of herself with her father. They moved over to the couch as Severus sat down with Lily on his lap seeming a little worn out but Lily was still full of energy.

"Daddy! I want to do it again! How do I do it again?" Lily asked in an excited tone as she shifted so she was looking at her dad, not even seeming to fully register how worn out he looked.

"How about you not do it again at least until Twinkle calms down…" Severus spoke in a pleading voice as he looked to his daughter to see she gave him a confused look for a second before nodding to show she would do as he asked. "That's my girl." Severus said in a relieved tone. It was then that the older Lily took note of the yelling and frantic tone of Twinkle coming from the kitchen.

The older Lily looked to her father again as she could see the faint hint of a smile tugging at the corner of his mouth from what she could see. "What did I do to upset Twinkle that much?" she asked since she had never heard Twinkle sound that worked up except for a few times. Each time was when Lily had done something that had inadvertently worried the little house elf.

"You threw a bit of a fit during breakfast, resulting in a slight outburst of your magic. Twinkle refused to let you have too much sugar on your cream of wheat and you got upset resulting in sugar flying everywhere." Severus said with a slight chuckle in his voice. "You found it amusing because of how you got what you wanted while Twinkle and I were both frantic trying to stop the sugar and multiple other things from flying around the kitchen."

Lily tried once again to remember, but she still found that it was impossible. There was nothing there. Just emptiness when she tried to remember anything about this day. So she once again turned back to the memory versions of her and her father as in the background, Twinkle seemed to finally calm down her little rant while she was cleaning up. 'Even though Dad and Twinkle do not always see eye to eye, whenever she goes on one of her little rants or freak out moments he lets her be herself.' Lily thought as she could not help but feel happy about that since she had read that some house elves lived lives that were beyond horrible. But at least her friend Twinkle did not.

For some time they stood there to the side, invisible, watching the memory versions of themselves as Lily had moved from the couch to sit on the floor before the table in front of the couch with some parchment, a quill and some ink as she began writing. Though her hand writing was not that developed, after a few moments, Severus had moved off the couch and sat beside his daughter and gently took the quill from her hand only to write a simple sentence.

_The cat says meow._

"Now try to copy that and use your best writing." The memory Severus urged in a kind tone as he handed the quill back to the five-year-old Lily who giggled and set to trying to copy what her dad had wrote about half way down the parchment due to her attempts taking up the top half with ease. They continued to do that for some time before Severus moved them back to the couch as he sat there for a moment, asking Lily if she wanted him to read to her. Something that beyond excited the young Lily as Severus chuckled before going to the book shelf and grabbing a children's book about a unicorn.

Seeing the cover as Severus moved Lily to his lap and started to read to her, the older Lily found that she recognized it. That book had been her favorite one when she was little. Though that was not all she noticed, that the scene in the room now matched that of the one she had seen flashes of in her dream before. More so as she saw her younger self giggle only for the memory Severus to lean down and kiss her on the cheek causing a new fit of giggles from the young Lily. Almost out of a subconscious reaction Lily went to step back only for her father to look back at her with worry on his face.

"Lily?" Severus asked as he looked to her after he had felt her move due to how he was still holding her hand in his to be a support system for her while she was seeing what happened on this day.

"I…I saw this part in a dream I had earlier…" Lily said in a nervous tone as she felt like her mouth had gone suddenly dry and her voice went closer to a whisper with each word.

"You did?" Severus asked focusing fully on his daughter.

"Just that we were on the couch like we are there…then a figure appeared and that you shielded me from who or whatever it was then nothing…" Lily said, her voice growing softer and softer with each word.

"We can back out now." Severus offered as he could see the fear in his daughter's eyes. Something he wished this would not have brought to light.

"N-no. I want…no I _need_ to know what happened." Lily said in a shaky but determined voice as she felt her hand move from her father's only to within a few seconds feel that he had moved closer to her and put his arm around her shoulder to hold her close to his side. Something that in truth was the one place that she felt safest. In her father's embrace.

The memory continued to play out for a short while longer before there was a knock at the door. Something that jolted both of those in the memory, as well as Lily only for Severus to hold her tighter to his side. "Just remember, this is only a memory, whatever happens, has already happened. Nothing here will be able to hurt you." Severus whispered to Lily holding her securely to his side as he knew full well what was about to unfold.

The memory Severus shifted, moving Lily from his lap to rest on the couch, telling her to wait there, only to turn and head to the front door. Due to it being his memory, Lily and Severus were forced to follow behind the memory Severus to see things as he had once seen. When he opened the door, two people stood there, ones that Lily did not recognize, though between the two of them, both had features that were like those of her father. The male, a tall man with dark hair and features like her father. The woman was not that attractive, seeming to have a sallow almost sour look to her face, something Lily thought the sour look was due to the cruel looking man beside her.

The memory of Severus stood there, what little color there was in his face, draining away as his eyes were only locked on the man, not even seeming to take notice of the woman. After several moments, Severus seemed to find his voice. "What are you doing here?" he asked, trying to mask the emotions that found their way into his voice as he seemed to be frozen in place. Something that confused Lily. All due to how her father never seemed to fear anything, apart from something happening to her. But never any person.

"As stupid as ever." The man said in a cruel voice as he shoved his way past Severus as the woman followed behind him, though Lily noticed that the woman had looked toward her father with a hurt look on her face.

"Get out of my home!" Severus ordered once he regained his footing and put his hand back on the door. His intent very clear. That he wanted the two to leave and then he planned to shut them out.

"So, you finally learned to have a backbone?" the man challenged as he stalked closer to Severus who Lily could tell even from where she was beside her father that the memory of him was faltering.

"Leave! Now!" Severus demanded as he drew his wand in the same movement as him letting go of the door.

Before anything more could be said or done, a small voice came from the direction of the living room. "Daddy? What is going on?" the small voice of Lily asked, drawing the attention of the two observers as well as the three adults in the memory. Though the look on her face shifted from one of questioning to that of fear when she saw how her father had his wand drawn and trained on the other man.

"Daddy?" the other male asked in a mocking tone. "Of course, you would sire a weakling like that." He said in a spiteful tone as he looked toward her and even went to go toward Lily only for Severus to rush forward and grab the man by the arm stopping him in his tracks.

"Don't you dare go near my child!" Severus ground out as he glared at the man whose arm he had grabbed.

"Seems you have forgotten what you were taught…" the man said in a low tone as he turned and in a movement, that Lily barely saw, balled his left hand into a fist only for it to collide with her father's face forcing him to let go of the man as he fell back to the floor.

"Daddy!" both Lily's yelled as the younger one glared at the man with a strange light in her blue eyes as various objects from around the house, books, picture frames, cushions from the couch, anything her magic could lift was thrown at the man as she stood there continuing to glare at him. However, soon she had no more she could throw at the man as he stormed over toward her, grabbing her by the front of her shirt as she looked up at him, but now she had a look of horror on her face. That is until he brought a hand down across her face as he let go of her the second his hand made contact allowing Lily to be sent to the floor at the base of the stairs as she hit her head sending her into a daze from the look on her face. She made no move to get away from the man as he advanced on her again due to how she saw nothing but hate and loathing in his eyes, something she was not used to since her father had at times been distant but when he looked at her there had always been love.

"A freak, and a monster!" the man said as he went to grab Lily again only for Severus to rush over between them once he had gotten back to his feet.

"I told you to stay away from my child!" Severus ground out as he raised his wand only to do a curse that sent the man back and through the door and even over the porch to land in a heap on the front yard. He spoke then to the woman without looking at her. "If you ever come to your senses and leave that man, then you may be allowed in mine and my child's life. But until then, leave and neither of you are to ever darken this door again!" only for the woman to lower her eyes and walk out as Severus slammed the door and locked it before he turned gathering Lily up in his arms and rushing to carry her to the couch.

"Who were they, daddy?" Lily asked as her voice showed that she was still out of it from hitting her head and from being struck as there was an angry red mark on her left cheek where the man had struck her.

"My parents…" Severus said in a low tone as he put her down on the couch and started to check her over. "Hold still…" he said waving his wand over her cheek causing the red mark on her face to fade then vanish completely and from the look on her face, so did the pain. Though before Lily could speak again Severus whispered. "Please forgive me…" he whispered as Lily gave him a confused look as he uttered a single spell over her. "Obliviate…" he whispered as he knew the spell would wipe away the memory of the entire day from her memory as she nodded off shortly after the spell was completed.

Lily felt herself being pulled upward, along with her father who was still holding her secure to his side. It only took a few seconds before they were back out of the pensieve and in her father's room. She stood there, trying to fully process what she had been shown while her father banished the pensieve back to the cabinet where it had been stored before that.

"You wiped my memory of that day after you forced them to leave…" Lily said in a soft voice as she was still trying to understand everything.

"Yes, to spare you the harshness of that memory since you were only a small child." Severus admitted as he lowered his arm from his daughter's shoulders and stepped away from her. "Because as I told you, I was beat almost constantly at the hand of that man when I was a child, I did not want you to have that same scar." He admitted as he turned to face Lily. "I wanted you to only know happiness. For your greatest worry on any given day to be what picture book you wanted me to read to you. Or which basic lessons you wanted me to teach you." He admitted since in truth he missed those days with near every fiber of his being. More so since back then, his precious daughter had always been happy, not troubled by the ailment that now plagued her. He wished he could turn back time and then freeze it so that she would only know happiness.

Lily looked to the side thinking on what her father had just said and on what she had seen. 'He wiped my memory of that day to try and allow me to continue living a peaceful life, even though it was that way only for another three years…before Harry was taken away…' she thought as a single tear found its way down her cheek opposite of her father so he did not see it. 'Everything he has done since mum died was to take care of me…to try and protect me from what he may have already suspected was to come.' She thought to herself closing her eyes to hold back any other tears that may try to surface. 'Even with the past he had, he has worked hard to make the right choices now.' She could feel her father's dark but gentle gaze on her. He was waiting, hoping that she would find it in her heart to forgive him.

After a few more moments of thinking to herself, Lily opened her blue eyes and looked toward her father before turning to fully face him. "I know now that you made mistakes in your past, but you have worked so hard to make things right." She said seeing relief wash over her father's face at hearing her say that as he nodded showing that she was right. Stepping closer she threw her arms around her father as she rested her right cheek against his shirt. "We are all the other has, so we cannot be fighting about what was done in the past." She said as she felt her father move his arms up around her. "I love you dad. Now and forever." She said as she hugged her father tighter.

"And I love you, more than anything." Severus whispered to Lily as he held her close.

Unknown to Severus, a hooded figure stood to the side of his room, watching the interaction as she could not help but smile at the two. 'I am so proud of you, Lily. For giving him the second chance he deserves so much…' the figure thought as she continued to watch as she knew that they would be alright. Or so she hoped because she was sure the future held many challenges for Severus and Lily.

**A/N:** Finally finished this chapter! I know it is a bit on the short side, but that is because I split the last chapter and this one because of how this part was taking me a while so I figured best to split them up. We are getting steadily closer to Lily, Draco, and Harry starting their first year! I will be putting up a few polls in regards to Draco with which house everyone thinks he should go to. I know which one Lily will go to, same with Harry, but Draco is one I have been debating on for a long time. The poll should be up later today if not tomorrow. Also, later today I will be announcing on my profile which story won getting a holiday special this year. Now onto the usual note. I want to extend a very special thank you to Alia Prior, HoneyBear84, and NatNicole for reviewing the last chapter. I really appreciate you guys taking time to leave your views on the chapter. Also, I want to thank everyone who has read, favorited and followed this story so far. I hope everyone enjoys this chapter and the ones to come.


	17. Unexpected Visit

**Unexpected Visit**

The month of November flew by for Severus and Lily. More so since Lily had become more and more curious about her father with his life growing up, as they were so similar. Both kept away from others, only main difference was that Lily had her father who loved her very much. He found it amazing how much strength his daughter was showing with each passing day, even during the full moon that had struck in early November, and again early in December. During that week, a few letters had arrived for her. She had been too weak to respond, but Severus had read them with a hint of amusement in his voice during them. One had been from Draco.

_Lily,_

_Mother told me that Tonks wrote saying that Severus and you are back home already. Is everything going okay? Mother insists that it is probably due to how this is the last year before we start school and that Severus wanted to be able to spend more time with you and not splitting his focus between teaching and you. Do you think mom and me can visit sometime? That or you and Severus come visit us?_

_Draco_

When Severus had finished reading that letter as he sat beside Lily's bed he noticed the weak smile she gave at how Draco had been eager to visit. They had talked briefly deciding that it should be fine for them to visit, so long as they first made sure that it was not too close to the full moon.

"Because if he or his mother found out, they would shun me?" Lily asked her father as her smile fell, her pale face drawn with a hint of a flush in her cheeks from a minor fever.

Severus nodded with a saddened look on his face. "Yes, because there has never been one like you so they would not know how to react." He said as he found himself hoping that Narcissa and Draco would at least be able to see past the affliction that Lily suffered with. "Though no need to worry on that." He said setting Draco's letter on her nightstand as he then reached out brushing some of her long hair out of her face. "Do you want me to cut your hair?" he asked since it seemed she liked to wear it close to the same length as his at times.

Lily weakly shook her head before smiling a little. "No, I want to let it grow out before I start school in the fall." She said before glancing at the other letters on her father's lap. "Who are those from?" she asked as her father looked down to the letters and chuckled.

"One is from Harry, the other two are from your hyper friend Tonks." He said shaking his head. "Which would you like me to read first?" he asked as Lily thought for a moment before saying that she wanted to hear Harry's first. So, Severus obliged.

_Lily,_

_Is everything going alright? Are you enjoying how you are not at the school now? Charlie said that one girl in his year, a Hufflepuff, has been driving near everyone in the school insane since Severus and you left. And that it seems like she was on the war path last week for some reason._

"War path?" Severus mumbled as he had not thought the clumsy Hufflepuff would go that far, but maybe something else had happened to set her off.

_If I can sneak away I plan to visit you around Christmas. I can't wait until September first to see you! Is there really nothing that can be done to put me back with you and Severus? Do your frequent illnesses have something to do with why I was forced to leave? Because it seems like after I was forced to go live with the Weasley's that you started to fall ill more and more. What is causing it? Please tell me!_

_Harry_

Severus looked up at his daughter as he could tell from the look on her face and in her blue eyes that she was very upset. He knew it was because of the same thing with Draco and his mother. That she could not tell anyone why she was ill so much and why no one could visit her during those times. Yet he was sure if the Weasley's pried into it and found that he did not ever take her to St. Mungo's when she was so ill that they might say the insufferable old man remove his daughter from his care.

"Will it ever get easier lying to them?" Lily asked after a moment as she looked away from her father to the wall on the opposite side of her bed only for a single tear to roll down her pale face.

Severus reached out and wiped away the tear as he felt a deep pang of sadness at seeing how much this hurt her. "I cannot say for certain." He said hating that he could not assure her without lying to her, something he wished to avoid.

Lily had shifted so she was on her side with her back to him. "I want to get some sleep…" she said barely above a whisper, her voice quivering slightly.

Despite his want to stay there, Severus knew that was the hint that she wanted to be alone. He sighed, placing Harry's letter on top of Draco's on the nightstand before placing the two unopened letters from Tonks beside the other two. "I will read the other two to you later after you get some rest." He said as he saw Lily merely gave a tiny nod. Turning his back to her, Severus headed to the door, as soon as he opened it, Xander rushed into the room only to go straight to the bed and curl up beside Lily. 'At least she won't be alone.' He thought to himself as he walked out, quietly closing the door behind him.

Xander waited until Severus had closed the door before he stood back up and walked around so that he could see Lily. He stared at her with his clear blue eyes, eyes that seemed to not fit the small cat. As he watched her sleep, the corners of Xander's mouth pulled up, hinting at a smirk as he could see that Lily was distraught.

/

For the last few weeks leading up to the day students were allowed to go home for Christmas, all the others in her house had avoided her, not that Tonks cared. She was worried about her young friend, the daughter of the Potions Master who had taken a sudden leave from teaching and took her back home. She had only gotten a few short letters from her friend saying that she was ill and that she was having to rest a lot. Just what was going on? 'If Lily has not sent a letter or if it is another one of her really short responses I am going straight to Professor Snape's house to check on her!' Tonks thought since the Christmas break was to start that day but where she planned to check the post before she left.

Rushing to get around, Tonks found herself tripping over the hem of her own jeans only to catch herself on the frame of her bed before she sat back down to put on her shoes and pull on her robe. Ignoring the looks from the others in the room she took off out of the dorm to the common room to see that a lot of the house was already preparing to leave within the next hour or so to get to the train and head home. She had done her packing the night before in a rush, not wishing to risk missing anything, like her wand.

Once she was sure everything was there after checking, Tonks turned from her trunk and rushed from the dorm, ignoring the looks she was getting from the others in the dorm and even those in the common room. She ran to the Great Hall to see the post was already there. She rushed, tripping several times and hitting her knee on a few benches as she tried to rush to the owl that she recognized as the one she had sent with her last letter to her young friend. Ignoring the snickering from some of the others at her clumsiness, and the pain in her knee she removed the letter with one hand and with the other she snatched a piece of toast from one of the platters on the table and offered it to the owl. She didn't pay any further mind to the owl as she rushed to open the letter.

_Tonks,_

_I don't know if I will be able to see you during your break. I have been sick again so dad thinks I should rest._

_Lily_

'Sick!?' Tonks thought in shock as it seemed that Lily's health was beyond frail. 'But there is no mention of Professor Snape taking her to St. Mungo's…' Tonks thought in panic. 'I'll kidnap her and take her there if he is refusing to allow her proper treatment!' Tonks was beyond frustrated, to the point that she didn't even have it within her to eat breakfast. 'Don't worry, Lily! I will get you to the hospital so you can get treatment and maybe find out what is wrong that has been draining your health so much.' Tonks swore as she left the Great Hall to wait in the Entrance Hall for it to be time to head down to the station.

/

Severus sat in the living room after having put Lily to bed just a short while before. She was at her healthiest now due to how it was between the two full moons that were to occur during the month. 'I have to find a cure so she can be free of this curse…' he thought, closing his eyes. Deep circles were under his eyes due to how he had barely slept even though he had taken a leave from teaching to take care of his daughter. He was trying to spend as much time as he could with her, but at the same time when she was healthy but resting he spent every moment he could trying to research how to cure the partial curse she suffered from.

'What more can I do to help her?' he thought to himself as he was beyond distraught at the thought of not being able to do enough to help her. 'All I want is for her to be healthy. And for her to be able to live a normal life once she starts school at the start of next term.' He thought as he was borderline desperate to cure her before she started school. 'If anyone were to find out about the affliction she has…' he did not want to even finish that thought. He knew no one on the staff knew besides him and the insufferable old fool. But even with her secret being safe, he could see it on Lily's face that she was suffering with trying to keep this from her three only friends.

A few days ago, he had passed her room where she was sitting up at her desk, the first time she had been able to in the last few weeks all due to how the bouts with the monster trying to force its way out of her becoming worse and worse even with the potion. But there had to be something that he was missing. Some key component. 'I will find it!' he thought as he heard a faint sound only to open his weary onyx eyes to see that it was Twinkle setting a hot cup of tea on the table.

It was a brief second before the small house elf noticed that Severus had opened his eyes as she jumped slightly since she had thought he was asleep. "Master Severus!" Twinkle squeaked in surprise as her hazel eyes were wide. "Twinkle was just fixing master some tea. Master looked like he was needing some warm tea to help with master being so worried about Mistress Lily." She said as Severus found himself being thankful for the small house elf.

"Thank you, Twinkle." Severus said as he went to reach for the cup of warm tea only for Twinkle to pick it up and move it to his hand. "Though do you think after I finish this cup that you could make me some strong coffee?" he asked in a weary tone.

"For another long night, Master?" Twinkle asked as Severus nodded at her. Something that led to the small house elf having a worried look on her face. "Master Severus, if it is not out of my place…maybe master should try getting a little sleep soon." Twinkle said with a hint of hesitation in her small voice. "Mistress has started to notice that master is not sleeping well, and it worries her." Twinkle said as her bat like ears drooped ever so slightly.

Severus looked down into the contents of the tea as he saw a hint of his reflection in the light brown surface. His face was even more drawn than ever before, unless one counted when he had been a student in school. All due to how he had spent countless nights avoiding sleep during his fifth year to prepare for some of the exams. Though now it was a different matter. He was a desperate man. Desperate to save his daughter all because he was fearful that with the full moons getting worse and worse for her that she would not survive it.

"Master?" Twinkle asked as she remained by him as she looked up at him with wide hazel eyes.

"I will try to rest." Severus said looking up from his tea to the house elf to see her smile ever so slightly. "Though, I was wondering something about her birth parents." Severus said only for the smile that had been there only a few moments before to disappear.

"Why does master wish to know?" Twinkle asked as she had her suspicions that Severus knew about Lily's true parentage.

"I know who they are. One was a friend of mine and Harry's mother when we were kids as we grew up together. Only thing was she was a muggle. And her father is the one who passed the ailment onto Lily." He said as Twinkle's ears drooped so they were completely angled down to her small shoulders. "I need to know more." He said as it was a plea for the small house elf to tell him, not an order. All due to how he had seen through memories what Twinkle had been through once she was dismissed by the man who had passed this curse to his child.

"It…it is not a happy time, it may upset master." Twinkle said as tears were welling in her large hazel eyes, the light from the fire making them seem to gleam.

"I know it isn't, but maybe there is something in that time of Lily's life or before she was born that may help us save her." He said as a few tears found their way down Twinkle's face.

"Very well. Twinkle will tell Master."

/

Tonks sat in her room fuming over how her parents had picked her up, going so far as to physically stop her from going straight from the train station to where Lily lived with her father. Though the night before, Tonks had talked with her younger cousin and found out that Lily had been sending letters very similar to him. She could not help but worry more with that new revelation into how she fears that something may be very wrong. 'Just what is going on? Why hasn't mom or Aunt Narcissa gone and checked on Lily?!' Tonks thought as she stood from her bed and started to pace around the room. 'Several letters all saying that Lily is barely recovering from something only to fall ill again…' she thought as she became fearful that Lily may be terminally ill with something.

'I don't care what anyone says, today I am going and checking on her myself!' Tonks thought as she glanced at the clock on her night stand to see that it was just before seven in the morning. It would be sun up in about an hour. 'No matter what, I am going today!' she thought as she went about getting ready for what may be a long day.

/

Severus lay in his bed ignoring the hour as he knew it was early in the morning due to how the pale light was starting to show through his window. 'I never knew it went that far…' Severus thought as he kept thinking over what Twinkle had revealed the night before. A bit into what may be a key factor in why Lily seemed to be getting worse at times. 'I knew it was always seen as taboo for one with the werewolf affliction to have a child, but none in current times even know why. Yet from what Twinkle said she had once overheard Lupin saying…' He thought as the small elf's face appeared before his eyes as he could see her as she had been the night before. Hazel eyes wide, her small body trembling slightly.

"Master must understand…that Twinkle heard something she was not meant to. Something between Twinkle's former master and mistress before mistress Lily was born." Twinkle had hesitated there almost like she was unsure if it was alright for her to speak of it. Though after only a few minutes that had felt like hours to Severus, Twinkle had continued. "It is due to how the affliction could kill. The one that is born with it may be unpredictable…a monster…" Twinkle brought her small hands up to cover her face as she let out a hiccup sob. "But mistress Lily is nothing like that! She is kind…she is gentle…" Twinkle sobbed. "B-but Twinkle's former master believed what Mr. Dumbledore told him. That mistress Lily would become the most loyal servant of He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named…"

'That damned old fool!" Severus thought as he remembered Dumbledore having told him the same thing at one point. Saying that so long as Lily grew up knowing love she would not follow the dark flip side of her destiny. However, something about what Twinkle said did not add up. 'But what…' he thought to himself in frustration.

/

_Lily was falling through darkness once again as she tried to scream but it was choked to nothing before it could find her lips. 'Dad!' she thought desperately as she tried to move but she found that she was unable to even move a finger. 'I don't want to be lost to the darkness…' she thought as a few tears fell down her face. _

"_Why not just give up?" a soothing voice asked from within the shadows. "You know it will be so much easier once you accept what is meant to be your fate, child." There was silence for a few minutes before the voice continued from what seemed like all directions as Lily continued to fall deeper into the darkness. "Just accept the creature that lies dormant inside of you, and everything will be as it was meant to be."_

_Lily felt her decent into the darkness slow as a figure appeared before her, falling right along with her, though she could not make out any of their features due to the deep cloak they were wearing. "I won't!" Lily yelled as she felt her falling slow. "I will not let the wolf in me define who I am!" she yelled only for the hooded figure not far from her to laugh, a high-pitched laugh that had a hint of a hiss in it._

"_In time, you will. You will see that accepting it and coming to me is the only for you and your father to survive in this world."_

Lily jolted awake as she sat up gasping for breath after a single scream had escaped her lips. Her blue eyes were wide in obvious horror, as she did not even register when her father rushed into the room and sat on the edge of her bed, placing his hands on her shoulders as he was calling her name. But Lily was staring straight through him.

"Lily!" Severus called in desperation, lightly shaking her as that seemed to snap her out of any remaining parts of whatever dream she had been having. "What happened?" he asked as he kept his hands resting on Lily's small shoulders, feeling her trembling under his hands.

"I…I saw something…" Lily said as she glanced to the side, worried that her father would dismiss her nightmares as nothing.

"What did you see?" Severus asked barely above a whisper, almost afraid that if he spoke any louder that he might scare his daughter.

"A figure…" Lily whispered as she closed her eyes. "And darkness…" she whispered since she was sure her father remembered all too well that there would be weeks on end when she had been very little that if he turned out the light before she fell asleep that she would start screaming in horror.

Severus shifted, pulling Lily close into a hug as he could feel that she was still shaking. "It is alright. It was just a nightmare." Severus whispered trying to reassure his daughter that everything would be fine. Though he felt himself doubting because of all that had been happening since the morning when she was found in the Divination classroom unconscious. But it did not matter what may be happening since he would protect his daughter no matter what tried to harm her.

After that, Severus had gotten Lily to go back to sleep, as she was already starting to show signs of the approaching full moon. The color was slowly draining from her skin, as she was looking borderline frail. 'She has not eaten much in the last couple of days…' he thought as he could not help but worry about that. Even with how each time he would bring that up or try to get her to eat more she would smile insisting she was fine. 'One skill I wish she had not learned from me…' Severus thought as he walked over to the door to go out of Lily's room after tucking her back in. 'How to mask her pain.'

Severus had gone back to his room, intending to try and get some sleep, but it eluded him. So, he went downstairs, after dressing in dark blue jeans and a Slytherin green sweater. No sooner had he gotten to the kitchen, Twinkle placed a fresh cup of dark black coffee on the table at his usual spot. "Thank you, Twinkle." Severus said in a low tone as he walked over to the table as he sank into his chair, grabbing the cup of coffee, inhaling the scent for a brief second before taking a drink.

"Is mistress still sleeping?" Twinkle asked, her hazel eyes wide with her concern for Lily. More so when Severus nodded.

"She is already being effected by the approaching full moon, and she woke earlier screaming." He said before taking another sip of his coffee.

"Another nightmare?" Twinkle asked as her ears dropped ever so slightly.

"I am not so sure anymore. They seem to be too violent to be nightmares." He said sipping at his coffee while he thought how to explain it better to the house elf. "This morning she woke screaming, and was not exactly awake but clearly terrified. I had to shake her and call her name several times just to try and get her to respond." Severus said as he sat down his cup of coffee only to rest his elbow on the table and bring his hand up to his face. "I don't know what to do. She seems to be getting worse but I can't take her to a doctor because of what they would do if they find out about what she is."

"Do not worry, Master Severus." Twinkle said in a hesitant tone as she was trying to comfort him. Though Severus did not lower his hand. "Twinkle knows that master will find a way to save Mistress Lily from the wolf."

"At times, I doubt that I will be able to. She is getting worse with each full moon that passes. The one a few weeks ago, I thought she was not going to make it…" Severus' hand tensed as he slightly clenched at his face.

Twinkle had been about to say something only for a chime to sound through the kitchen. Severus lowered his hand as his eyes shot to the doorway leading to the living room. Someone was trying to come through the floo network, which he had been keeping closed. "Twinkle, go upstairs and stay with Lily." He said since he was not sure who would be trying to come through at this hour, but he was not about to take any chances. No sooner had he stood, Twinkle vanished with a pop as he knew she would be upstairs now with Lily to protect her should the need arise. Grabbing his wand from the holster he had on his arm under his sweater he slowly made his way to the living room. Once he was before the fireplace, he saw the last person he expected to be trying to call on him that early.

Tonks.

With a heavy sigh, he lowered his wand and shook his head. "What is it, Miss Tonks?" he asked, keeping the formality that was between them mainly when he was teaching. Though he was sure he knew what this was about. His daughter.

"Please let me through, I want to see Lily since it has been a while." Tonks said in a slightly demanding tone.

"She is not awake right now." Severus said in a matter of fact tone trying to deny her entrance under those grounds.

"I can wait." Tonks said showing that she was willing to wait in the floo network as a head in the flames until Lily woke.

'Damn it!' Severus thought. 'If I just put out the fire and cut off the connection she will probably still come to the house by apparating or getting her mother or aunt to bring her which is the last thing that we need right now.' Though while he was thinking, he could see the determination in Tonks' eyes becoming more and more pronounced. "Lily is actually not feeling well today, so it would not be a good day to visit."

"Let me visit her." Tonks said as there was a hint of the threat that Severus was worried about.

"Fine, but just so you know you still may not see her." Severus said opening the connection as Tonks' head vanished only for her to come through seconds later.

"Why would I not be allowed to see my friend?" Tonks as she straightened, glaring at the terrifying potions master.

"Because she is not feeling well." Severus said in a low tone, wishing that Tonks would just leave soon even though she had only just gotten there.

"Then why haven't you taken her to St. Mungo's?" Tonks demanded in an equally low tone as her glare hardened.

"She is my child, I will care for her how I see best." Severus said, as Tonks was about to say something more only for a frail voice to come from the stairs.

"Tonks?" the weak voice called as both Severus and Tonks looked toward it to see Lily near the bottom of the stairs staring toward them. There were faint circles under her blue eyes, showing she was on slight lack of sleep. Her pale blue night dress hung slightly from her right shoulder due to how she had lost some weight in the last few weeks. Her skin pale and slightly drawn around her face, except for the faint flush in her cheeks hinting a small fever.

"Mistress, you should get back to bed." Twinkle spoke in a worried tone from where she was beside Lily.

"Lily…" Tonks whispered in shock, as she almost didn't recognize her friend due to how she looked far more frail than she had just months before. Though her shock faded quickly into rage as she drew her wand and trained it on Severus. "You have not been caring for her! That much is obvious by the way she looks!" she growled barely above a whisper. But before she could even do a single spell to ensure that Severus would not stop her, he had already raised his own barely whispering the spell to disarm her as her wand flew into his hand.

"You do not understand, so you best back down now, Nymphadora." Severus said in a low dangerous tone as he stepped toward her whispering a single spell that sent Tonks flying back onto the floor as he continued toward her. "I should have done this when we left the school to avoid this." He said raising his wand once again to point it at Tonks who was starting to sit up.

But before he could do another spell, Lily was over in front of Tonks, her small arms wrapped around her friend like she was trying to shield Tonks. "NO!" Lily yelled in a forceful tone, one that seemed odd coming from her due to how frail she looked physically. "Don't wipe her memory of her visit!" she begged as she glanced back at her father who still had his wand raised.

"Lily, if she leaves knowing your condition now, she may contact someone to come and take you away from me." Severus said as he hoped he could get that through to his daughter. "And I won't let anyone take you from me."

"She won't!" Lily insisted as she continued to hug Tonks to shield her, knowing that her father would not do the spell so long as doing so risked Lily being caught in the spell as well. "Maybe we should tell her the truth so that she can understand." Lily suggested as her tone changed, almost hesitant.

"The truth? What is going on? Aren't you just sick with some form of chronic flu?" Tonks asked, her eyes wide in confusion.

"Not exactly…" Lily said hesitantly as she leaned back to look at her friend in the face. "But before we decide, if we tell you, can you please not tell anyone what is wrong with me?" she asked as she knew her father was standing only a few feet away ready to wipe her friend's memory if she did not agree.

It took a few minutes before Tonks sighed and nodded. "Alright, I promise." She said as Severus turned and pointed his wand at the fire, doing a spell to completely cut off the floo network. Tonks was not sure if it was to insure no one showed up unexpected and heard what was about to be said or if it was to insure she would not be able to leave too easily before he could obliviate her memory if they felt it necessary.

Twinkle walked over and helped Lily up once she unwound her arms completely from her friend as Severus stepped closer and helped support Lily as he helped her over to the couch where he put a blanket around her after positioning her so that she was half sitting half laying. "You should have stayed upstairs, you know your strength is touch and go right now." He whispered as Tonks stood and walked over, sitting on the couch by her friend's feet as Severus moved to the arm chair as he ordered Twinkle to get them some tea.

Once Twinkle was gone from the room, Tonks spoke up, hating that they had said they would tell her what was going on only for them to sit in silence. "So, what is wrong with Lily?" she demanded, her eyes going from her friend's drawn face to the stern face of Severus.

Lily looked down as Severus took that as she wanted him to start. "Lily is suffering from a unheard of version of lycanthropy?" He said as Tonks was wide eyed.

"WHAT!" Tonks yelled after several minutes of sitting there, completely stunned as she shifted so her back was to the arm rest, eyes on Lily. Though that small gesture was taken by Lily to mean that her friend was now afraid of her. Something Tonks realized when she saw tears brim in Lily's eyes and her slowly draw her legs up under the blanket putting more distance between them. "Lily…" she said but when her friend did not respond, she looked back to Severus. "But how can she have lycanthropy?" she asked thinking that surely that could not be right as Severus was not one, she could not be sure about Lily's mother, but maybe she had been bitten or attacked at one point?

"That is why the case is so odd." Severus said in a hesitant tone. "It developed not long after she turned eight years old, shortly before Harry was taken from us." He said as he saw his daughter draw her knees up more, hiding her face behind them as her thin arms went around her legs. "But so long as she is given the wolfsbane potion, she does not change, but she does fall very ill during the full moon, even becoming near comatose at times." He said as Tonks was staring at him, but not at him.

'The full moon…' Tonks thought as she was thinking back on all the times Severus had turned her away from being allowed to visit Lily, the delayed responses in her letters, when she always seemed weaker. All of those had been around the full moon. She sat there, dumbstruck for several minutes coming to terms with it as she shook her head to clear it. "So that is why you won't take her to the hospital…" she whispered, her eyes locked on Severus as he nodded.

"Yes, because it would put her in danger since I doubt anyone would keep quiet about finding out there was an unregistered half werewolf right under the Ministries nose." He said as he stood from his chair and moved over to Lily's side, kneeling on the floor and resting a hand on her back.

"That is true. More so since she is the first like that in history." Tonks said as she was still shocked, yet astounded at the same time. "But how is it that she is a half werewolf?" she asked only for Severus to shake his head, in a way cutting that question off as one that he would not answer that for now. After a short silence, Tonks spoke again. "Would it be alright if I talk alone with Lily?" she asked as Severus seemed to hesitate before nodding as he knew there was no way even if she wanted to, for Tonks to leave with his precious daughter. So, Severus stood and walked from the room to check on Twinkle and the tea in the kitchen.

Lily remained where she was, bunched into a slight ball on the couch even as Tonks moved closer to her on the couch and reached out for her. She jumped slightly when she felt Tonks rest her hand on her shoulder. Looking up she saw that her friend was not far from her, smiling slightly as she was looking at Lily in the eyes.

"So, this is the secret you have been keeping from everyone?" Tonks asked with a small hint of sadness behind her smile.

Lily looked to the side slightly as she nodded. "I had wanted to tell you for a while, but…" Lily trailed off, her voice barely more than a whisper.

"But you were afraid?" Tonks asked as her smile fell, sadness still evident in her expression when she saw Lily nod. "Because you were afraid that I would turn my back on you?" again Lily nodded. Seeing that was the reason that her friend had been suffering alone and afraid of others knowing, Tonks felt like someone had reached into her chest and was squeezing her heart.

"You, Draco and Harry are my only friends…" Lily whispered. "I couldn't handle the mere thought of what would happen should any of you leave me because of what I am. Because I am a monster…"

Tonks stared in shock at Lily, but when she registered half a second after Lily had called herself a monster, Tonks' arms shot out and wrapped around Lily pulling her close, so that she was forced to her knees on the couch in her friend's arms. "You may be many things, Lily." Tonks whispered. "But one thing you are not is a monster." She declared as she held her friend close, almost afraid that she might break. "You have the purest heart and soul of anyone I have ever met. You see the good in people, and put others before yourself." She said since that is exactly what Lily had done just a short while ago. When she had jumped in to protect Tonks without any thought for her own safety.

Lily felt herself too shocked for words as she leaned more into her friends embrace. For the last year, she had been locked away, isolated. Only seeing her friends on a rare occasion, being told she was a dangerous monster. Too dangerous and unpredictable to be allowed out of her father's quarters when they had been at the school. Then kept away from her friends for their safety during the times when she fell ill. That and how she had been afraid they would abandon her if they found out the truth. But she was beyond relieved that fear had been put to rest at least with Tonks. The relief she was feeling was so great that she began to cry into Tonks sweater she was wearing.

Tonks sat there hugging Lily close, even rubbing circles on her back as she did not care that her friend was crying into the front of her sweater. It would dry. She knew she would not trade helping her friend for the first time in so long for anything. Nothing else mattered besides how Tonks wanted to be able to see Lily smile again. The way she had a few times since they became friends. A true pure smile from her heart.

For several minutes, they stayed like that, but Tonks soon shifted, to gently push Lily out of the hug ever so slightly so they could look each other in the face. The trails from Lily's tears were still there on her pale face, her eyes showing signs of being bloodshot from the tears. "Lily…" Tonks said making sure she had her friend's full attention. Once she was sure she did she continued. "I am not going to abandon you." She said in a determined tone as she could see the surprise on Lily's face. "You are my best friend, and in truth, I love you like the little sister I never had." Tonks admitted with a smile.

Lily felt like her breath caught in her throat at hearing how Tonks really felt about her. She had in truth felt the same way for some time, but she was not sure what the feeling was completely. All because it had felt different than the love she felt for Harry before he was taken away, and different from the love she felt for her father and Twinkle. She looked down for a second trying to recompose herself as the feeling of shock faded, and she felt herself being over taken by a new emotion. One that Lily had thought was gone since she had been faking it for so long for the benefit of her father and Twinkle. Happiness.

"I feel the same way." She said in a small voice before she leaned forward throwing her arms around Tonks in what she had meant to be a fierce hug, but she did not have much strength to put into doing so. She felt her friend's arms go around her as she could not help but smile, relieved that she was not going to lose one of the few people that meant more than her own life to her.

/

About half way down the stairs, Xander sat staring through the railing facing toward the living room. His blue eyes narrowed ever so slightly at the scene that he had watched pass. Though as he sat there, there was a hint of a smirk tugging at his lips, only evident by the small twitch of his whiskers. Everything would fall into place in time, as the one with Lily would now place a crucial part, but not as much as the others Lily held close to her heart.

/

**A/N:** I have finally finished the chapter! I am very sorry that this took me so long. Things in my life have been up and down, as last month lost a very dear family member and have been getting over that and slowly returning to my writing. This chapter was nearly complete when all of that happened but I figured it best I not return to writing this chapter until I was in a much better state. Though I want to thank HoneyBear84, and NatNicole for their reviews. Also, everyone who has been following this story. I really do appreciate everyone who is giving this story a chance. Also, I think this is the longest chapter so far! Not for sure but if not it is a close contender. And for this chapter, I want to see if anyone can guess what is going on with Xander from recent chapters and this one. If you have any guesses leave them in your reviews. I will try to update again soon so long as things work out as I also need to update my other active stories on here.


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